


Into You

by Eunmih, shitty4eyes



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Bartender Kihyun, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, Slice of Night Life, strip club au, stripper Changkyun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-07-23 20:53:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 54,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20014633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eunmih/pseuds/Eunmih, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shitty4eyes/pseuds/shitty4eyes
Summary: A stripper. A bartender.Everyone knows the cliches.So, this is it;Welcome to MyStar.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is cuter than it looks, promise.
> 
> For the sake of it and for the authors' stalking, the tag for this fic on twitter is #IntoYouAO3.
> 
> Enjoy!!!

Everyone knows the cliches.

The bartender, the guy (or girl) who rolls out of bed at 3PM, has bourbon and cereal for breakfast, and then drags his sorry ass to work two hours later. _Obviously,_ at work he performs an insane display of juggling, shaking, stirring and mixing. And it’s so fucking impressive that people will come up and say, “That is one fine display of working flair, have a bill, keep the change, I’ll be back for more later.”

The beautiful boy (or girl) at the end of the bar is equally impressed and feels so inclined to slide their number over the counter, while very slowly mouthing the words “Call me”, before winking and mysteriously walking away.

And of course the amazing, _the mixer, the shaker,_ bartender slides the number into his pocket, winks back, and coyly moves on to serve his (her) next customer.

It’s the job!

 _Nah._ Not really. Sure, these things do happen. But not as often as movies or series make it seem. The bartender is the guy who gets shot at, actually, make no mistake there. Also the guy who happens to know more or less what’s going on (‘more or less’ because sometimes a brain can only focus on serving the damn drinks). It’s the guy who works the 5PM to 2AM shift but only leaves at 3AM. But most of all? The bartender _is_ the mystery.

One of the best parts about being a bartender, though? Totally having his days free to do whatever he wants. He doesn’t have to wake up to an alarm clock (so damn nice!) and instead of sitting at a desk all day, he can go outside and feel the sun on his skin and the wind on his back--and then get a cold because freaking Yoo Kihyun is a hermit.

But not just a hermit, oh no; he’s a nocturnal animal.

A vampire? Well, _sometimes--joking, joking._ He just really loves _The_ Nights. And he’s living his best life, the life that fits him, the life he had to work for (believe it or not) and, well, he’s sorry for being everything his parents despise and glad for being all of the things they never knew they wanted their son to be.

So, what does freaking Yoo Kihyun do every day when he gets to work? Get a double espresso because life sucks and he needs that caffeine. No milk, no sugar, just pure _bean._

 _Who even_ drinks _milk, anyway?_ Lattes, the stuff of nightmares.

And then he greets his family, because that’s the thing about being a nocturnal animal, his colleagues _are_ his family. Every co-worker in this place? Family.

So, this is it; 

_Welcome to MyStar._

_\---_

The rush always comes when people least expect it. One minute, the bar is empty and everyone is casually filling up the ice wells--not everyone, really, just Kihyun and Jooheon. The next minute, the bar is three rows deep, cocktail orders are backed up, Jooheon has gone to the bathroom and one of the kegs has just run out.

So, Kihyun stresses, because of course he does. And he walks into the bathroom and opens the damn stall to will Jooheon to hurry the fuck up-- _who takes a shit during rush hour, anyways_? He’s lucky Kihyun cleans those bathrooms, or he wouldn’t be sitting on those toilets with a clean conscience or a clean, well, anything.

But then things calm down, and the strippers roll in, and that’s when it get a little interesting. Well, interesting(er). Like the two, almost three hours of rush weren’t enough.

There’s a small bachelorette party in a booth decorated in bright pink, giggling among themselves and watching the strippers every time they pass by before whispering and giggling some more. There’s not much to the people who come to places like this; they want something they don’t normally get, that’s it. Some look cocky, smug, like this place owes them that (but hey, at least they spend their money) and some just look nervous. 

It’s a very open club. Kihyun sincerely doubts there’s a single dancer here who is completely straight, so nobody minds who they dance for, really, as long as they pay. 

At the moment, a nervous looking man is tapping at the counter and blushing every time he sees Hoseok (here, known as Wonho) walking past. He has a simple brandy and coke and fidgets. Kihyun sees at last three of these a day.

The man pushes his now empty glass out and catches Kihyun’s eye, smiling shyly. “One more, please.”

Kihyun smiles a little and takes the glass with one hand and the brandy with another. “Double or single?” he asks. This guy could use a double, to be honest.

Wonho sits down next to him and the man squeaks a, “Double.” Hoseok smiles at him and he blushes, but Hoseok just keeps smiling.

“Is this your first time at a place like this?” Hoseok asks, and Kihyun notes he’s wearing his lace outfit again. Poor top, completely stretched out at this point, but Hoseok makes it look good.

Kihyun scoops some ice into the glass and raises an eyebrow (without looking, it’s rude), smiling as he pours the brandy and later the coke.

“Yeah,” the guy admits, wincing. 

“Weeeeell,” Hoseok says, slipping off the chair. “I have a show, soon. Will you come watch?”

The guy blinks. “On--on the stage?” And Hoseok nods. “Okay…”

Kihyun glances at Hoseok and then at the guy. “Here,” Kihyun says as he places the glass in front of the man again. Hoseok just smiles, though, walks to the dressing rooms behind the stage, and Kihyun takes the man’s card and stamps it before writing ‘B&C’ on the little square.

“How does this…” the man asks, clears his throat. “Work…?”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow and grins, “What, the brandy? Well, depends. How much of it will you be having? I recommend one more of those if you’ll be doing what I think you’ll be doing.”

The guy shrinks a little on the counter. “They’re just--all so pretty… You too, it’s terrible…”

Kihyun huffs a laugh, “Thank you.” He sees someone else get closer to the counter but Jooheon quickly takes that order so Kihyun stays put on his side of the bar.

“Do you… strip, too?”

“Do you want me to?” Kihyun asks as casually as he can, shrugs and grabs a few drinks to put them back on the shelf behind him--keeping things organized is key.

The guy blushes crimson. “I--I mean, I don’t--I don’t _not_ \--” he groans, hides his face. “Oh god, why am I here…”

Kihyun sighs softly and turns to the man, reaches for a shot glass and places it in front of him, takes the vodka and pours it full. “On the house.”

He peeks through his hands. “Thanks…”

The club’s lights change to blues and purples, and Kihyun can see Hyunwoo and Minhyuk leaving their current ‘targets’ and head to the bar. It’s the way of things; the dancer on stage is ‘advertising’ himself or herself, so the others make sure not to distract. Minhyuk (known here as Minnie) stands out in any case, with his platinum blonde hair and heavily made up eyes, dark against pale skin. Where Hyunwoo (known here as Shownu) is nearly completely naked, topless with leather pants, Minhyuk is more of the… temptress type. Wears pretty things but doesn’t show much, tempts people to get him to. Hyunwoo doesn’t need to do that, much, so he doesn’t. 

“Whoo!” Minhyuk whoops loudly when Hoseok steps out on stage to do a routine they’ve all seen just… so many times before. The guy, though, stares, wide eyed, and Minhyuk giggles, gives him a small push. 

“Go sit by the stage!” Minhyuk urges and the man almost _stumbles_ on his way there, sits at the counter all the way around the stage. The stage is literally just two poles and a chair. Other props are welcome, but those are the basics. And Hoseok does it _really fuckin’ well_.

But Kihyun is not here to watch Hoseok. Honestly, after all this time, he knows Hoseok’s stage more or less by heart (the white crop top is new though). Kihyun is here to serve drinks and convince people they want more drinks. Some don’t need convincing, others do. Like everything in life.

He is, however, also here to keep an eye out. Because sometimes things get a little tricky and while most of these strippers can stand up for themselves, it does no harm to be alert for certain types, which are rare but existent nonetheless.

The club is owned, to the surprise of most, by a woman. A lesbian, at that. ‘A gap in the market’, Sunmi had said is why she’d started the club. She’s here, in her office, greets people coming in and takes their entrance fee and explains the prices. But she’s not here to keep the customers in hand, even if Kihyun knows she could most likely kick anyone’s ass.

Hoseok finishes, in barely more than a bright pink thong, and smiles at everyone. The shy man from before holds out a note that Hoseok takes by squatting in front of the poor him and instructing him to put it in said bright pink thong.

What a life.

That is also when Minhyuk and Hyunwoo scatter again, and Hyungwon, the DJ, turns the volume down on the music and the lights back from their blues. It’s also, though, when Kihyun sees Sunmi walk through the front doors, in smiling conversation with a dark haired boy.

Kihyun’s eyes move to Jooheon when he serves a colourful caterpillar of cocktails. Kihyun fixes his black tank-top, tucks some loose ends back into his black jeans and moves on to serve a girl who’s waving three cards at him.

He looks back up when Sunmi gets closer. He slides the girl her drinks at then reaches for the cloth nearby to wipe his hands. 

“Can I get you anything?” Kihyun asks, throws the cloth over his shoulder, eyes moving between Sunmi and the pretty boy next to her.

Sunmi smiles widely, a hand on the boy’s arm. “This is the new dancer I told you about,” she says cheerfully. The boy smiles, lips in a line making his cheeks dimple, hand up with a little wave. 

“Oh,” Kihyun blinks. _You look… young._ “Kihyun,” he greets, extends his hand over the counter and the boy shakes it. “The bartender, obviously. One of them, Sunmi collects us like legendary Pokémon.”

Sunmi cackles. “True, I do.”

“I’m--” the boy says, voice surprisingly deep but he looks unsure. “I’m Changkyun…? I don’t know if you meant stripper name,” the boy laughs, ears red. 

Kihyun smiles and looks down. “I’m not a stripper, so I just meant I go by ‘Kihyun’.” He reaches for one of the sliced lemons and brings a slice into his mouth. “Doing the ‘learn on the job’?” he asks, eyes coming up to Sunmi.

Sunmi smiles, nods. “It’s the easiest, really.” She looks to Changkyun. “I’ve told you pretty much all you need to know, the rest is just… testing the waters. You good with that?”

Changkyun nods. “Yeah! I mean, yeah. I just--didn’t think you’d hire me on the spot so I don’t have--” he laughs, clearly a little nervous. “Anything to wear? Or not wear…”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow and looks between them. “Well, ask the boys, I’m sure something… will fit. Maybe Minnie?” He shrugs and grabs a glass, scoops some ice into it and then asks, “Do you like chocolate vodka, Changkyun?”

“Uhm,” Changkyun says and Sunmi laughs.

“I’m going to let you do your thing, Changkyunnie,” Sunmi says, already walking away. “Have fun, okay?”

“Okay,” Changkyun blinks, looks back to Kihyun. “No idea, never had it… Sounds nice, though.”

Kihyun turns to grab the ‘changed’ Smirnoff and places it over the counter before glancing at Jooheon to shout, “Hey, Joo? Where’s the chocolate powder?”

Jooheon does a little spin to point to the top shelf. “Boom.”

“Really?” Kihyun deadpans. He turns to get the powder and then starts preparing the drink. It’s one of those they don’t serve to people because Jooheon and Kihyun literally prepare the chocolate Smirnoff at home, but it’s usually something they share with the rest of the family.

Changkyun smiles again and sits down, looking around. “Thanks,” he says, glancing around. “Who’s Minnie?”

Kihyun glances up and places a glass of iced chocolate vodka in front of Changkyun. “A hurricane, really.”

Changkyun reaches for the drink, smiling as if to himself all the while. “That’s a lot to… Well, I don’t wanna say ‘compete with’...”

“You are competing, though,” Kihyun says. He raises an eyebrow and watches Changkyun’s face for a moment, there’s gold on his eyelids. It suits him, in the way it contrasts with the black of his hair. “You’ve got a nice face, you’ll be fine.”

Changkyun scoffs, slurps at his drink. “Thanks… Didn’t realise everyone else here was so, well. _Fit_ , so thanks.”

“Don’t worry too much about that. Minhyuk would fly if the wind blew too harshly. And yet, he’s the most well paid bitch I know. Puts me and my hard work to shame.”

Changkyun pouts. “You don’t get a lot of tips? You’re really pretty, though.”

“Yeah, but I don’t strip,” Kihyun scoffs and then shrugs. “Well, only to the cats. At home. Away from prying eyes.”

“I do both, apparently,” Changkyun smiles.

“And it’s appreciated,” Kihyun says. “The world would perish without you.”

Changkyun throws his head back in a laugh. “I’ve not even taken my clothes off yet!”

Kihyun looks up and then glances at someone who’s getting closer to the bar. “You don’t need to. I can tell…” he says as he walks closer and smiles at the girl who flashes him one look before quietly ordering a drink.

Minhyuk, bless his soul, spots Changkyun and grins like the devil before wandering closer and draping himself over the counter. “Hello, newbie…” is how he greets Changkyun.

Changkyun has his lips wrapped around the straw as he looks at him, before popping off with a smack of his lips. “Hello, veteran.”

Minhyuk turns to Kihyun and says, “I like him.”

“Join the club,” Kihyun scoffs.

“Cute. So,” Minhyuk turns to Changkyun. “Would you like to follow me? We’re going to dress you up and then we’re going to have fun.”

“Oh,” Changkyun actually perks up a little. “Really?” 

Minhyuk shrugs and leans back. “What, you don’t wanna?”

“No!” Changkyun defends. “I’m not--not shy or anything, I just--that’s so nice, thank you,” Changkyun pouts, finishing the drink and nodding. 

“Come on, then,” Minhyuk says as he takes Changkyun’s hand and tugs, Changkyun staying in place long enough just to finish the drink completely before letting himself be tugged. As they pass by, though, Minhyuk winks at Kihyun and Kihyun just rolls his eyes.

Jooheon scoots closer, like he’s trying to own the word ‘scoot’ and scoot he shall. “Did Minnie just pull a client or is that the fresh meat?”

“Fresh meat, my man,” Kihyun scoffs, takes Changkyun’s glass and throws the ice away before turning to put it inside the washing machine, finally closing it for its second round today. It’s a _big_ washing machine. It takes a lot of glasses.

“Huh.” Jooheon squints at thin air. “He’s… hot. Good for him.”

“Minhyuk finally has proper competition,” Kihyun says as he wipes his hands.

“For the guys like you whose type isn’t all--” Jooheon gestures to Hyunwoo. He looks oily? Good for him. “That? Like you. You look at them and you’re dead behind the eyes, bro.”

Kihyun snorts and shakes his head as he crosses his arms and leans his weight on one leg. “Look, I admire the… work they put into it. When I try to workout all the _work_ goes to my chest for some reason. It’s pointless, really. So… hey, kudos to them. But beefy isn’t my type.”

“So,” Jooheon grins. “If you walked in here as a client… You’d ask Minhyuk for a dance?”

Kihyun blinks very slowly and tries to forget he actually _knows_ Minhyuk. “Yes…”

“He’ll be so chuffed,” Jooheon sighs wistfully. “Do you know if this kid’s danced before?”

“Who, Changkyun?” Kihyun asks, gives Jooheon a look and then glances at the dancefloor. “Nah, don’t know him. Sunmi only vaguely mentioned him a few times, that’s all.”

Jooheon looks over to a guy leaning over the counter in an attempt to get his attention and scoffs, moving away and over. “Maybe ask him for a dance!” Jooheon calls over, grinning in that way he definitely learned from Minhyuk, as he mixes a drink for the guy. 

Kihyun rolls his eyes and smiles in amusement as he watches the crowd wild up for the next song. If he’s going to waste money, he’ll pay for a drive home (he takes the uber home, sometimes).

Eventually, after a few Aperol Spritz, Margaritas and the occasional Moscow Mule, Minhyuk emerges again, Changkyun in tow. His hair still looks fluffy, but Minhyuk has gone and styled it away from his face. Is that a piercing? Yep. Piercing. Minhyuk darkened the boy’s make-up, too, but kept the gold. He’s wearing a top Kihyun didn’t even know Minhyuk had, a black crop top with lace peeking out over the boy’s exposed stomach and his arms. Kihyun recognises the pants, though, just… leather. But for some reason, it looks tighter on Changkyun than he’d expected, and again, Kihyun sees lace peeking out from the pants. 

_What underwear did Minhyuk put this boy in?_

Kihyun isn’t at all surprised when he sees a few heads turn already. And well, good on him, really. Changkyun needs those eyes on him if he wants to make money. Hopefully, Minhyuk won’t take it too personally.

One of Minhyuk’s regulars (Kihyun recognises him immediately) walks in, and Minhyuk grins, whispers something in Changkyun’s ear and rushes away, jumping into the man’s arms who immediately leads him to one of the private booths. Changkyun glances around and smiles at Kihyun before training his eyes on the two guys already staring at him from the end of the bar, and walking over.

Kihyun swears he can _see_ the difference between this boy, this walk, and the boy Sunmi had escorted in here. Changkyun barely talks to them, too, just lifts himself up to sit on the counter, a foot coming up to prop at the backrest of one of the guys, who looks entirely pleased by this.

_Of course he does._

Kihyun glances to the side when a girl calls over, followed by a group of people. Why suddenly people decided to order five Appletinis in a row is beyond him but he’s stopped questioning his clients not long after his first month here, and he’s been here for _years_. 

Well, three years is _years_ , right? Right.

“Hi,” the guy Changkyun is currently wooing greets.

“Mm, you can do better than that,” Changkyun says and--Jesus, even his voice sounds different. Deeper, like dark chocolate.

 _What_.

The guy looks to his buddy and then to Changkyun. “Can I offer you a drink?”

“Let me see,” Changkyun says, moving the guy’s hand with the glass closer to his mouth to lean his head back for a small sip before moving him away, licking at his lips in a very deliberate way. “Sure,” Changkyun smirks. “You have good taste.”

The guy smiles and then glances at Kihyun, “One more of these!”

_Coming right up._

“What will you do for ₩170 000?” the guy’s buddy asks, leaning into his friends bubble and grinning.

Changkyun clearly can’t help the way his eyes go a little wide, before he grins, reaching over to run a hand through the guy’s hair, tugs him a little closer. “Pretty much anything, darling.”

Kihyun blinks for quite a while before quietly getting closer just to place Changkyun’s drink by the counter and taking the man’s card to stamp it. They talk for a while, Changkyun sipping at the drink and flirting in a way they seem to believe, despite where they are...

But Changkyun finishes the drink and the guy grins and reaches to touch at Changkyun’s crotch, Changkyun smacks his hand, gives him a level look. “Not that.”

“Then,” the other guy says, “Can we go to a booth and you strip and dance for us?”

_Now, there’s an image._

Changkyun slips off the counter, shorter than both of them but still turns them both around, gives a small push. He looks to Kihyun, then, leans in and speaks lowly, “How long for that much money? I can’t remember the rates.”

Kihyun shrugs. “Thirty five? Forty five, if you’re feeling generous.”

“Hmm, thanks,” is all Changkyun says before Kihyun watches him confidently saunter past both the men and to a booth, beckoning for them to join him before he closes the curtains with a wink to Kihyun.

“Hey,” someone says as he drapes himself over the counter and wave at Kihyun. “Two beers, please!”

 _Oh, they said ‘please’._ Today is a good day.

About an hour later, a row of shots and a few Margaritas later, Changkyun comes back, plopping down on one of the bar stools, face red and smiling like he's… Proud? He should be, really. He ruffles at his hair and looks to Kihyun, laughs a little. 

"Do you have, like, water with ice? I'd murder for water with ice right now."

Kihyun finishes serving a beer and then raises an eyebrow at Changkyun. "Water is free," Kihyun says as he scoffs a laugh and shakes his head. He grabs a glass and fills it with ice before reaching below to grab a bottle of water and open it.

"Even better!" Changkyun smiles, draping himself a little over the counter. "Thanks."

"Good first day?" Kihyun asks as he places the glass next to Changkyun, who drinks about half of it in one go. 

"It's only been an hour," Changkyun scoffs. "Yeah, though? That was a lot of money… They even paid for more time… Damn, I had no idea."

"Told you, you'd be fine."

Changkyun smiles something small, almost shy. "It's just… Confidence and acting. Just glad people seem to like me so much..."

"Don't you?" Kihyun asks. He glances at Jooheon who's now emptying the dish washing machine, glasses so warm they'd burn his skin off if he wasn't using that cloth. "Like yourself much, I mean?"

Changkyun narrows his eyes. "I do… I just don't really make a habit of looking at myself in a mirror like, _'damn, definitely wanna jump that'_." 

Kihyun laughs and looks at Changkyun. "No, but knowing how you look to other people makes wonders for the job. If you know how you look, how you can look, then you can get whatever you want out of them," Kihyun gestures at the crowd and then smiles when a few girls wander closer to get more drinks.

"Do you have foooood?" one of them asks as she drunkenly drapes herself over the counter and then turns to look at Changkyun.

"Toasts, chicken wings, hot dogs," Kihyun mumbles. He shrugs. "All the things that will clog your arteries within a month of eating too much of it."

"Is it expensive?" she asks and her friends giggle. Kihyun just frowns because she asked that while looking at Changkyun.

Changkyun turns in his seat to gape playfully at the girls. "It? _Wooooow_ , that hurts."

The girl hides her face and giggles before looking at Changkyun again. "Are you expensive?"

"I'm whatever you want me to be," Changkyun winks. 

Kihyun snorts and rolls his eyes. "Stealing my clients, I see…" 

"I'm being attacked from all sides, here," Changkyun jokes. 

"I wouldn't call it 'being attacked'," Kihyun says as he gives Changkyun a look.

The girl leans back to look at her friends and one of them gives her a bill that she then rubs lightly on Changkyun's face. "Will you dance with me, handsome?"

"Of course, beautiful."

Kihyun huffs a laugh and tongues at the corner of his lips before glancing at the girl. "Do you still want food?"

"Chicken wings," the girls says. "But only if I can share them with him," she giggles, hands Changkyun the money.

Kihyun quirks an eyebrow up and then turns to walk into the kitchen at the back. "Chicken wings, then."

"I love this job," Changkyun mouths to Kihyun as the girls talk among themselves. 

Kihyun just chuckles and keeps walking, pushes the door to the kitchen open. _Chicken wings, chicken wings, chicken wings._

Everyone loves the job but not everyone stays forever. Most people think they'll like it but then can't deal with it. Others settle down with people who don't think highly of this life. It's kind of funny, though, because those same people will require this type of service but then look down on those who provide it.

Maybe Changkyun will stay for a while. He seems like a natural. Minhyuk and Shownu did, too, back in the day. And maybe they stayed because they've got each other and understand each other. Others weren't so lucky. And others, like Wonho, are still rather new at it.

In the end, they're out there in the open. Some because they like it and others because they need it. But they're no mystery. Even if all they tell is pretty stories, even if it's all a facade. The true mysteries of the night are the ones serving the drinks.

\---

Closing hours. It sounds good, right? It’s finally over, time to go home…

Except they have to clean up and leave things ready for later. And no, not the strippers. It’s really just Kihyun and Jooheon, always, all the time. But they get it done. They always get it done. Even if it ends with Jooheon using a mop as a standup mic, singing to ‘ _You Don’t Mess Around With Jim’_ by Jim Croce.

Hyungwon is always the first to leave. DJs got it easy. And he doesn’t even come on Sundays, because Sundays are not busy enough for him--picky guy.

Kihyun likes to clean the bar (and the bathrooms but no one _speaks_ about the bathrooms, the demogorgon lives there after midnight). So, last but not least, Kihyun tidies the kitchen and then brings the industrial trash bags into the corner.

“Leaving?” he asks Minhyuk when he sees him stroll to the door. “Where I’m from people say ‘goodnight, see you tomorrow’.”

Minhyuk scoffs, looks over his shoulder at Kihyun, speaks and it’s just… grossly sugary sweet. “Bye bye, darling, I miss you already~”

Kihyun rolls his eyes, “You talk and I get diabetes, _darling.”_

Minhyuk winks and cackles, does a swing of his hips as he closes the door and Kihyun hears something fall in the dressing room, followed by a small, “Oh no.”

“Who’s destroying my bar?” Kihyun shouts to the back even though he keeps his eyes on the trash bags he ties together.

“I’m not!” he hears Changkyun squeak. 

Kihyun glances back over his shoulder and raises an eyebrow. “Need help?” he asks, snorting when Jooheon attempts the Moonwalk as he mouths the lyrics to whatever his headphones are shouting into his ears. _That mop is his girlfriend, for sure._

A pause. “I dropped some makeup,” Changkyun says, and Kihyun hears some more scuffling. “It’s fine, I’m fine, it’s fine, I’m _fine_ ,” Changkyun says just as he walks out of the dressing room, face red and bare as he smiles sheepishly at Kihyun and hovers to look at something on his phone. 

Kihyun blinks. “Oh, well…” He blinks again and then glances at the bar. _Right. Trash._ So, he turns to pick the bags of trash and then turns to the door and shouts, “Joo, you can’t hear shit but I’m taking the trash out!”

It’s fine outside, under the starlight and the silvery moon. Not much light here, really, if not for the big neon letters that flicker so much sometimes that they’d scare the shit of any imaginative kid below ten.

Climate change and all that, ‘fine’ is what Kihyun gets mid June, now. It used to be hot before, sometimes. Now it’s all heatwaves and then coldass weeks, no more _proper heat._ So, ‘fine’ has to suffice. Because, honestly, taking out the trash after the big trashcan has been toasting all day under the scorching sun isn’t the best thing in the world.

Kihyun walks back inside to give things one last check and to grab his wallet, keys and jacket from his locker, but almost bumps against Changkyun in the process, who only then looks up from his phone, looking confused as to how much time may or may not have passed.

“Hey, er,” Changkyun says, biting at his bottom lip as if in thought, eyes on Kihyun. “How do you guys get home..?”

"Well," Kihyun over Changkyun's shoulder and sees Jooheon rushing into the locker room, "We walk. We live together and close by so we usually just walk… You?"

Changkyun pouts at his phone. “I’m trying to get an Uber. Like I said, I didn’t think I’d be working tonight so I’m making shit up as I go.”

"Oh… Alright. Well, Imma go get my things. Lemme know how that goes. Worst case, you sleep over."

Changkyun makes a face and then laughs. “Sleep under the dressing table? Maybe. But thanks,” Changkyun says, starts walking.

Kihyun scoffs and reaches back to lightly grab at Changkyun's wrist, quickly letting go. "I meant at our place, dummy. It's no big deal. Plus, I make great pancakes." 

Changkyun blinks down at his wrist before up at Kihyun. “I--For real?”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow. "Yeah? You're not walking home alone and if you don't wanna waste money or, hell, go through the hassle, you're more than welcome."

Changkyun pouts and taps his pout with his phone. “You’re too nice,” he smiles, then. “I’d… like that. I can’t find any Ubers anyway…”

"Alright, then--"

"Dude," Jooheon says as he walks over with Kihyun's belongings, "Gotcha, let's go, I'm starving!" He pauses and smiles at Changkyun. "Oh. Hello! I'm Jooheon."

Changkyun smiles brightly, bows his head. “Hello! I’m Changkyun. Sorry I didn’t greet you earlier, you looked busy and I was, well, busy. It’s nice to meet you!”

"He's staying with us," Kihyun informs as he takes his jacket and throws it over his shoulder.

Jooheon blinks. "Huh? Oh," he looks at Changkyun, motions for the two of them to follow him out, as they do, "Cool. Do you like pancakes?"

Changkyun laughs, looking at Kihyun. “These must be some seriously kick-ass pancakes.”

Kihyun feels his jacket pockets for his wallet and keys-- _yep, all here--_ and then turns to make sure Jooheon closes the club _properly_ this time. It’s always weird when Jooheon wakes up in the middle of the night (read morning) and makes Kihyun rush to the club to check if the door is locked. 

Living close by isn’t always a good thing.

“So,” Jooheon says as he straightens up and pushes his hands into the pockets of his denim jacket as he begins walking. Kihyun is still busy getting used to the cold feeling of the leather to shove his hands anywhere. “Changkyun, the new guy. What brought you to our humble establishment?”

“Er,” Changkyun ers, raking a hand through his own hair and then frowning at his hand. “The money,” he laughs. “And hey, it’s actually kinda fun, so, _whoo_.”

Jooheon scoffs and gives Kihyun a knowing look, one Kihyun retributes. “Sounds like Minhyuk, remember?” Jooheon asks and then shivers as he grins, shoulders coming up. “That damn opening shooooow…”

“Oof,” Kihyun jokes.

“Right…”

“Yeah, I saw him dance on stage, he’s…” Changkyun whistles lowly. “Really good.”

“The word you’re looking for is ‘sensual’,” Kihyun says and then gestures at his own hips, “He does things with these.”

“So do you,” Jooheon snorts.

“Shush.”

“So do I,” Changkyun joins in and scoffs. “Just kidding, I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow and leans forward a little to look at Changkyun. “You kidding? You’re like a natural at this. I was actually impressed.”

Changkyun, quite obviously, flushes. “Th--Thanks…”

“Yep, totally didn’t see it coming, what with the--” Kihyun does a little spin to keep walking backwards and gestures at Changkyun’s face, “Cute thing you’ve got going on. Is it on purpose?”

Changkyun frowns. “What? No. What?”

“Chill,” Kihyun scoffs. “It was a compliment...”

“No, I know,” Changkyun says, hand up. “You think I’m cute?”

Kihyun glances at Jooheon who seems to be purposely keeping himself out of the conversation, and then looks at Changkyun again. “Depends… like, right now? Yeah.”

“Huh,” Changkyun says, looking ahead and looking all thoughtful. “Minhyuk said he’d teach me how to dance with a pole tomorrow. Apparently Sundays are quiet, so, might as well bruise my ass.”

Kihyun scoffs and turns around. “Will be surprised if that’s all he teaches you.”

“Don’t scare him,” Jooheon laughs.

“I was in a booth with Minhyuk table dancing, to _observe_ ” Changkyun scoffs. “Nothing scares me anymore.”

“Yeah, yeah, wait until the creeps spot you.”

“You _said,_ ” Kihyun laughs, “‘Don’t scare him’ and then you go and say that…”

“Are there many of those?” Changkyun asks, conversationally. “I mean, I can handle it, but still.”

“Nah, I mean…” Kihyun shrugs. “Some people get bold but you can shut them down pretty easily. Still, if anything happens, just come to us. We usually keep an eye out for red flags but there’s the rules and… we’re also busy and the security at the door rarely _leaves_ the door so… Anything you think feels weird or… anything going wrong, just let us know.”

“That security takes his job pretty seriously,” Jooheon adds conversationally as well as he nods.

Changkyun smiles down at his hands, pulling his black hoodie over them. “Everyone’s been so nice… I had no idea what to expect but… I’m really glad.”

“We’re a family,” Jooheon nods. “So, if you stay, that’s what you get.”

“We’re a very dysfunctional family,” Kihyun laughs. “But yeah, what he said.”

“Any family without old people shaming you for your choices, I’m in,” Changkyun says, smiling at both of them. “This is my first time doing literally anything like this and I… honestly didn’t even think they would hire me. Especially not on the spot like that.”

Jooheon shrugs, “Sunmi has a good eye.”

“That she does,” Kihyun says, finally shoves his hands into his pockets and glances at a flickering light. _Creepy…_ It’s how all the creepy movies begin, a silent night and a flickering lamp or a long hallway in a sinister science lab.

“Don’t expect to make tons of money all the time,” Jooheon says. “But there’s always something so… you’ll be fine. And the better you get at seducing them, the more money you make.”

Changkyun mumbles something under his breath, and it sounds a lot like, “I made ₩500 000 tonight…”

 _And you’ll make much more in the future, sometimes,_ Kihyun thinks to himself.

Jooheon looks down at the sidewalk and kicks an invisible rock before glancing up the moment the 7-Eleven sign comes into view. “Does anyone wanna take drinks home?”

“Yes! I’ll buy!” Changkyun says, already rushing forward. Kihyun watches him go, only stopping next to Jooheon once they’re closer to the store.

It’s a nice night out. Kihyun would love to hang out if he wasn’t also starting to feel a little tired, eyelids heavy whenever they come down.

“I like him,” Jooheon chirps out of the blue.

“Hm?” Kihyun blinks at him.

Changkyun is on the other side of the glass, inside the store, holding up a Mountain Dew and a Pepsi with a question in his eyes that’s clearly, ‘Which one?’ so Kihyun just raises his hand, forefinger and thumb in a circle to give him an okay, gesturing a little more towards the Mountain Dew, and Changkyun rushes away to do god knows what.

“He seems the shy, bubbly type,” Jooheon says and then yawns.

“You say one thing,” Kihyun scoffs, “And your body does another… _Charming.”_

“Me? Never.”

A few minutes later, Changkyun has a bag of food in his hand, the drinks in a bag in the other. “I got Doritos! And jelly babies!”

“God,” Kihyun says as he makes grabby hands at the Doritos, “Marry me.”

Changkyun giggles and hands the bag over. “Go on, consummate.”

“Y’all have some weird kinks, watching me like this,” Kihyun jokes as he pinches both sides of the bag of Doritos and pulls them open. “Look at that.”

“Nasty,” Jooheon scoffs as they all begin walking again

“I should just dress up as a big ass Dorito,” Changkyun jokes, reaches in for a few chips. “ _Spicy_.”

“Depends, if you want to impress me then yes,” Kihyun says, offers Jooheon the bag and gapes as he takes out a handful. “Rude!”

Changkyun just laughs again, hand over his mouth as he chews, cheeks a little puffed. “How, er, close do you guys live? My legs are kind of killing me.”

Again, Kihyun and Jooheon just exchange a look and say, at the same time and in completely different tones, “That’s what she said.”

“Or he,” Jooheon nods.

“Them,” Kihyun nods, too.

“Balls.”

“Itchy.”

Changkyun cracks up, bending a little as he laughs, hand over his face as he wheezes out a, “ _Smooth_.”

Kihyun coughs a laugh. “God, too much info.”

Changkyun just keeps laughing. “This is a strip club, everyone’s smooth!” 

“Speak for yourself,” Jooheon snorts.

“God, I wish that were me,” Changkyun sighs as if wistful.

Kihyun raises an eyebrow. “Wait until they start growing. Then you’ll know what ‘an itch’ feels like,” he says as he stuffs his mouth with Doritos.

“Wait, you already got your dick out?” Jooheon gapes. “It’s your first night! You wild!”

Changkyun blushes and shoves lightly at Jooheon. “Oh, shut up!”

“Nakey dancey for two guys,” Kihyun informs.

“God,” Changkyun groans, before just laughing again. “It’s weirdly easy because they all are just-- _so eager_ ,” Changkyun giggles, face entirely red. 

“That guy was eager, alright,” Kihyun scoffs. “Handsy little shit…”

“Why do you think I made so much money,” Changkyun rolls his eyes, smiling. 

Kihyun shivers. “Ugh. Good on you, Changkyun. Good on you.”

Changkyun does a little bow. “Thank you, thank you.”

“I swear, you’re all goddamn super heroes,” Kihyun mumbles. “I’d punch anyone breathing down my neck, never mind the money… Major respect.”

“Ah, I guess,” Changkyun shrugs. “I guess it’s just fine for me because… I don’t know, they think we’re selling sex but this isn’t _sex_ , it’s barely even the idea of it. So there’s this divide between that and this so I’m fine, really.”

Jooheon nods, “Until the creeps start requesting them makeout sessions.”

Changkyun blinks. “Them what now.”

“Whoops.”

Kihyun laughs. “Oh, it’s nothing, really…”

“Basically,” Jooheon says, conversationally, “They pay you to makeout with the other guys. Careful, dicks might touch.”

Changkyun goes a little wide eyed. “Oh. Does it--I mean, it pays well, right?” Changkyun laughs, seemingly a little nervous.

“Literally the most expensive thing ever,” Kihyun nods, glances over. “And you _don’t_ have to agree to it. It’s just good money so it happens every now and then.”

“But aren’t Minhyuk and Hyunwoo like… a thing?”

“Yeah, and?”

“I didn’t mean anything bad,” Changkyun says, hands up. “Just… it’s kinda funny? They make out all the time, so it’s like… A freebie?” Changkyun laughs again. “Something like that…”

Kihyun shrugs. “You’ll find out, sooner or later, that it’s difficult for people in your line of work to… settle _while_ maintaining the job. They’re lucky, really, because they both do the same thing and… well, they get it. Someone else wouldn’t.”

Changkyun pouts, looking down at the ground as they walk. “Yeeeeeah, I kinda accepted that bit when I signed up, really… I mean, it’s fine! I’m happy being alone, but who doesn’t wanna… Well, you know. Love and stuff.”

“That’s why I got him,” Jooheon points at Kihyun with his thumb. “Collected him when we were about this size,” Jooheon brings his hand down to his waist, “Latched on like a leech and never let go.”

Changkyun looks between the two of them, eyebrows raised. “You two are together?”

“Yes,” Jooheon nods and then snorts. “Very--” he laughs. “Sorry. Yes, as friends.”

Kihyun smiles and rolls his eyes, “He sneaks into my bed for cuddles but that’s all. He gets scared easily, you’ll find out soon, really.”

Changkyun nods, fiddling with his own hoodie ‘sweater’ paws. “Do you not… date? I mean, you’re not strippers, you just work there.”

Jooheon points to himself, “I’m committed to my cats. And--” he points to Kihyun, “He’s a hopeless romantic. _I know, I know,_ surprised the hell out of me, too. The pragmatic little shit is actually a romantic…? Hell. Jesus is real.”

Kihyun blinks slowly down the road and sighs. “And he keeps on insulting me…”

“I like it,” Changkyun smiles, shrugs. “I’m one, too.” He holds up a hand for a high five. “Solidarity.”

Kihyun raises his hand to slap it against Changkyun’s, _“Thank you!”_

Jooheon scoffs a laugh and then glances at Changkyun to ask, “Are you allergic to cats?”

“Life wouldn’t be worth living if I was.”

\---

“Meet Gucci and Yoshi,” Jooheon says when, the moment he opens the door to their flat, two tiny cats come out meowing and start rubbing between their legs.

This morning, Changkyun had woken up nervous, unsure, hopeful (in a desperate sort of way) and now all his muscles hurt and he’s in two near strangers’ house, cooing at their cats. Which he does, wholeheartedly. 

“Babies!” Changkyun coos, ignores the burn in his thighs when he crouches down to pet the cats. “They look like twins! Like cat twins!”

“They are,” Jooheon says in a prideful tone as he walks in and places the keys over the small dresser by the entrance. “Come on in,” he says.

Changkyun scratches behind the one cat’s ear before frowning, looking and getting up to follow Jooheon inside. “Er, no offense but… What’s that smell?”

“The smell of disgrace,” Kihyun deadpans. And then shouts from the living room just ahead, “Joo! They pooped on the couch again!”

Changkyun pouts. “Don’t be mad, they’re just babies…”

“I’m not mad, I just--” Kihyun walks back and stares at the closed door in front of him before pointing at it and glancing at Jooheon. “You left the door to the kitchen closed…”

Jooheon blinks. “Whoops?”

Kihyun frowns. “Goddamn you…” He rolls his eyes and groans as he shrugs off his jacket and throws it over Jooheon’s head before walking back into the living room. “It’s the second time, Joo. The second time.”

It’s a nice place, though, despite the smell of cat poop. It’s clean (again, despite) and tidy, and Changkyun feels like he’s getting far more of a reading of these two’s personalities just with this. There’s posters and art and… plants? Cute.

Jooheon opens the door to the kitchen and the cats rush in, one straight to the bowl and then other to the litter. “I swear… it wasn’t on purpose… I’m sorry, babies!”

“You should be,” Kihyun grumbles as he walks by with a bunch of cushion covers in his arms and gives Jooheon a glare.

“No offense,” Changkyun laughs. “But you two sound like a married couple sometimes. The mark of a great friendship, truly. Can I help at all?”

Jooheon snorts and shakes his head, gestures at Changkyun and at the living room, “Nah, go in. Let’s crack open a window. Kihyun likes to do things himself and I’ve learned, over the years, that it’s better to just let him or he’ll complain that you’re not doing it right.”

“Ah, the perfect man,” Changkyun scoffs, shrugging off his hoodie and pointing a finger to Jooheon. “Say nothing about the shirt. Minhyuk did this.”

Jooheon gives Changkyun a look but snorts and pushes him into the living room. “Alright, alright, no comments.”

It’s a small living room; a couch against the wall, a coffee table at the center, a shelf with a TV and a PS4, and a small bookshelf next to it. There's a few plants by the window that seems to lead to a small balcony.

Jooheon quickly opens the window and a soft summer breeze runs in. It's nice, it's relaxing and it makes the house feel even more cozy.

"Sit, sit," Jooheon urges, "Just leave the couch to Kihyun. He'll take care of it."

There’s an armchair, so Changkyun takes it for himself, melting onto it. It’s instant relief, not having to use his muscles for once tonight. “I am not moving a muscle for the foreseeable future, thank you very much.”

Jooheon takes the bag with the drinks and sits on the floor by the coffee table as he brings everything out. And Kihyun barely spares him a look as he walks in to pick up the cushions and disappear out the door again.

And that’s fine, because it means Changkyun can curl up in the sunlight like a proper cat. _The life_. It’s not sunlight, it’s moonlight, but the point still stands. There will be curling and basking. 

Honestly? Changkyun is kind of happy he didn’t have to go home; he lives far away and it would cost a bunch. The only way he’d gotten to the club in the first place was being dropped off nearby by a friend of a (sort of) friend, just… hoping he’d be hired and then find the friend again, but instead, he had to turn to hoping he’d make enough money in this job he knows nothing about to afford a ride home.

Bartenders? Nah. Angels. Angels sent from above.

"Kihyun!" Jooheon calls. "The pancakes!"

"Can you _please_ wait?" Kihyun shouts back. For some reason, it just makes Changkyun laugh softly, nuzzle further into the couch. 

Jooheon reaches over and hands him a Mountain Dew, though, "Here you go. Do you live far?" 

“Yeah, stupid far,” Changkyun scoffs, sits up a bit straighter to handle the drink without spilling all over himself. “A shoe box down south.”

"A shoebox? Damn…" Jooheon opens his own drink and takes a sip. "Well, I like you. So, the couch is yours whenever you need it."

Changkyun smiles soft, feels his heart go all warm. These people! Are so! Nice! “I… At this rate, I could get my own transport soon, but… for now? That would be… great, really. I won’t be in the way! I’m smol,” Changkyun puts his legs up, makes himself as small as he can.

"In the way of what," Jooheon scoffs. "Kihyun's massive dick? Nonexistent."

Changkyun narrows his eyes, ignores his blush. “What… does that have to do with literally anything…”

"Oh, nothing," Kihyun mumbles as he walks in. "He just likes to assert dominance. Were you talking about my dick again? I swear…"

Jooheon grins but says nothing, just sips.

“I’d share, but you’ll see soon enough,” Changkyun scoffs, leaning back into the couch and taking a sip. _So refreshing, damn_.

"You're taking the cushions to the laundry--"

"I know," Jooheon says as he makes space for Kihyun to sit next to him. "I will. Don't be mad."

"I'm not," Kihyun sighs and reaches for his own Mountain Dew. "I'm washing the covers, anyway."

Jooheon gestures vaguely at Changkyun. "He lives in a shoebox."

Changkyun sips. “That’s true, I do.”

Kihyun frowns as he takes a drink and then reaches up to ruffle at his hair. He's been wearing it styled away from his forehead all night. But now he just sort of combs it back down. 

It’s not the first time (or the second, or the third, etcetera etcetera) that Changkyun thinks it, but _wow_ , Kihyun is pretty.

"Hm," Kihyun hums. "Ah. Do you want to take a shower? I'll make pancakes and then we can all just die to the world with full tummies."

“That sounds _great_ , honestly,” Changkyun gets up, stretches his sore muscles, hands up to the ceiling. “I should get some--” he glances to the couch, pillowless, unsleepable. “Er…”

Kihyun blinks at him and then at the couch. "Oh. Shit…" He almost choked on his juice. "It's fine, I'll sleep with Joo and you take my bed."

“Ki,” Jooheon says, eyebrow raised. “You’re small, but you’re not _that_ small.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes, "You sleep in my bed and he sleeps in _yours,_ goddamn it."

Changkyun drops his hands (ow ow ow) and rolls his shoulders. “Sorry… For kicking you out of your bed…”

"He loves cuddling," Kihyun scoffs and stands up. "Don't be sorry for him. Follow me." He passes by and glances over, "Want Magnesium supplements? It helps with the muscle pain."

“God, please,” Changkyun whines. “And it’s going to be soooo much worse tomorrow.”

Kihyun laughs softly. “Yeah, it will. But you’ll get used to it, in time. Come on, come on. I’ll give you towels and so on. I’ll change the sheets on Joo’s bed for you while you shower. And then pancakes.”

“You’re… sure you’re not some guardian angel sent down to take care of me?” Changkyun laughs, ears a little warm as he follows Kihyun. 

“Taking care of people is like… my true calling,” Kihyun scoffs. He pushes a door open and gestures at a bathroom dresser. “Towels are in the bottom drawer. And there’s--” he points at the shower, just a glass between it and the rest of the bathroom, “Gel, shampoo and conditioner if you wanna go all smooth for your pillow.”

“Why not, the pillow deserves it,” Changkyun smiles, crossing his arms as he glances around the bathroom. “Seriously, though… Thank you.” Changkyun directs the smile at Kihyun. The whole night, Changkyun had felt confident and sexy and all that, but this is so different, this is just… soft. And he feels special, and liked. And even though this, specifically, doesn’t pay the bills, it’s just such a nice way to feel.

Kihyun gestures vaguely at the bathroom and steps aside for Changkyun. “I’ll lend you some of my shirts.” He looks at Changkyun’s shoulders and narrows his eyes, “The baggy ones should fit… We’re more or less the same size, I suppose.”

Changkyun smiles and takes a small step forward, moving his hand from the top of his own head onto Kihyun’s. “The exact same height, I’d say.”

“Alright,” Kihyun says and starts to move away as he closes the door. “Don’t drown,” he says just before the lock clicks and the door closes.

It’s the best shower Changkyun has had in years. Shoeboxes, in general, have terrible water pressure and a barely functioning geyser which makes every shower feel like just standing in some lukewarm spray. He has the cheapest, well, everything. Soap, shampoo, lotions. All the cheapest, so everything he uses now to clean himself with feels like a damn luxury.

Afterwards, he finds a towel, finds the clothes (all soft and wonderfully baggy) and notes that the bed (Jooheon’s) looks crisp as _fuck_. What five star hotel is this!?

Changkyun is still ruffling at his damp hair when he walks into the living room and immediately blinks at the smell of weed. Right? That’s weed. Changkyun has never had weed but the guy in the shoebox next door certainly does.

Changyun’s brain fizzles a little when he looks over and sees Kihyun with a joint between his lips, one that he takes out after a drag and passes to Jooheon, eyes on Changkyun. That was… Hot. _Fizzle fizzle_.

“You look fresh,” Kihyun says and then gestures at the coffee table. “Pancakes? There’s chocolate and syrup.”

“I ate two,” Jooheon says, props his elbow over the coffee table and holds up two fingers at Changkyun, “Twwwwwoooo.” 

“The number to beat,” Changkyun smiles, sitting down on the floor by the table. “Are you guys smoking weed?”

“Why,” Jooheon asks even as he smiles and passes the joint to Kihyun, “Are you the cops? Ford Police Interceptor Changkyun.”

Changkyun laughs. “That’s a great stage idea, thanks. And _no_ , I was just asking. Smells weird.”

Kihyun takes a drag and frowns. He leans back against the naked sofa, eyes on Changkyun and offers him the joint. “After a while it just smells like chicken to me.”

“Everything in this galaxy smells like chicken to you, Yoo Kihyun,” Jooheon scoffs. “Alright, Changkyun, Imma prepare you a pancake Lee Joo style,” he says as he pulls one of the plastic plates closer and pokes two pancakes with a plastic fork.

Changkyun smiles, lips pursed as he reaches for the joint, raises an eyebrow. “I’ve… never done this before.”

Kihyun shrugs. “I’ll close my eyes so I don’t feel like laughing when you choke,” he says and then _does_ close his eyes.

“God, no, please do,” Changkyun laughs. “If I fuck it up, I might as well make someone laugh.”

Kihyun opens one eye only and smiles a little. “Oh… I like that.”

Jooheon scoffs. “Yeah, you do!”

Changkyun looks at Kihyun, eyebrow raised as he puts the joint between his lips and inhales. He manages a straight face for a little over one (1) second, before the burn in his throat is just too much and he coughs and then just can’t _stop coughing_.

Kihyun just “Pffft”s at him and turns his face away to laugh, arms crossed and legs coming up as he turns into a ball. And Jooheon laughs, too, even though he’s busy dressing those pancakes with too much syrup.

Changkyun spots the bottle of Mountain Dew and literally just grabs for it, opening the cap and drinking. Oh, god, the relief. Still, when it’s bearable, Changkyun shrugs and takes another drag. He coughs again, but much less. Maybe his throat doesn’t even exist anymore, who knows.

Kihyun grabs the little ashtray next to him and places it between him and Changkyun, just as Jooheon puts down a plate with more syrup than pancakes in front of Changkyun.

“Thanks,” Changkyun says and knows his voice sounds super fucking raspy.

“Oh, that’s sexy,” Jooheon says and he crosses his arms over the coffee table and rests his chin down on them. Changkyun starts poking at the syrupy pancakes with his fork before lifting a considerably amount into his mouth. “Damn, this summer breeze is lulling me to sleep…”

Outside, on the small balcony, Changkyun spots the two kittens chasing each other.

They’re just… so cute.

“Think the water has heated up already?” Jooheon mutters. “Need shower.”

Kihyun shrugs, takes the joint from Changkyun and drags before putting it out. “Probably, he didn’t take that long… Give it a try.”

“And then sit down on the floor all nakey nakey while I wait?”

“Obviously.”

“Fine,” Jooheon says and sighs. He stays still for a moment longer and then gets up. “Might snore today, by the way,” he says as he walks out of the living room.

“Oh, great,” Kihyun deadpans.

Changkyun keeps staring at the cats. They move so fast, what are they doing. “I don’t snoooooore.”

Kihyun’s nose scrunches a little and the sniffles. “I do… not loud, but… Unlike Joo, I have a sensitive sleep… I wake up easily.”

Changkyun frowns over at him. “No, that’s me, I do that.”

“It’s a curse,” Kihyun scoffs.

“Or a blessing!” Changkyun says, finger up. “In case of _incidents_.”

Kihyun grins a little. “Why do you think we’re fattening you up with pancakes, Hansel?”

Changkyun beams. What the hell is this weed? “So I’m nice to hold?”

“Aw, that might be true…” Kihyun narrows his eyes at the TV. “Hm…”

“I’m nice to hold right now!” Changkyun defends with a small whine. “I’m soft!”

“Seal skin,” Kihyun nods. “Minhyuk recommends olive oil, by the way. For the sensitive bits.”

Changkyun giggles, falls onto his side and giggles some more. “Sensitive bits!”

“They usually are,” Kihyun says like he’s complaining.

“People aren’t allowed to touch my sensitive bits,” Changkyun giggles, brings the plate down onto the floor next to him.

“No, but they’ll be allowed to _see_ them. Besides, sensitive bits is an understatement because people are sensitive in places they wouldn’t even think.”

“True,” Changkyun says, shoves a bunch of pancakes into his mouth, talks around it. “I‘ve a sens’tive tummy.”

“Interesting exchange of information, stranger,” Kihyun jokes. “I’m still trying to pick which is mine… there’s a lot, I don’t even--Where do I even begin, hm…”

Changkyun giggles, wincing at how sweet the syrup is but he still _loves it so much_. “Guess we just get reeeeeal honest when we’re high.”

“I’m real honest all the time.”

“Told a man he was handsome tonight,” Changkyun mumbles. “That was a lie.”

“Maybe… but that’s your job. To pretend you’re enjoying all of that, even when you’re not. Although, think of it this way… all the compliments you’ve heard tonight? All true.”

Changkyun pouts up at him. “He wanted to paint me like a French girl.”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow and looks at Changkyun. “Tell him to bring the canvas? Charge a thousand per quarter. You’ll walk out rich as fuck!”

Changkyun giggles again. “Ah, I’m gonna get such an ego!”

Kihyun snorts and shakes his head before he lets it fall back against the naked sofa. “Maybe. We won’t let you, though. We keep each other humble.”

“Good,” Changkyun nods, and his pancakes keep getting less and less for some reason. “How do _you_ stay humble?”

“I live with Jooheon.”

Changkyun barks a laugh. And then just keeps giggling. “Oh--” Changkyun giggles. “Oh no this is how I die--”

Kihyun laughs a little, too, and then just sort of sinks further down and props his calves over the table. “Stop laughing, asshole.”

“Everything is funny, though,” Changkyun giggles, falls to his back on the floor and looks at the ceiling. “You take good care of your ceiling, it’s very clean.”

“Mmm,” Kihyun sighs. “My mother used to say that… you treat your house the way you treat other people. I don’t know why but I always thought it was so fucking metaphorical… I had to, y’know, work on it. Makes sense, why her house was always so spotless. Then again, it’s a very… ‘keep up appearances’ kinda thing. She was always like that… I don’t even know what I’m talking about,” Kihyun snorts.

“Keep up appearances,” Changkyun repeats. 

“Yeah, y’know… Seem all good and… respectful? When they aren’t, not really. But that’s everyone, I guess. Everyone is always so worried about appearing ‘good’ that they forget what being ‘good’ actually is about.”

Changkyun pushes himself up enough to sit, leans against the empty couch’s armrest. “You’re good, though… Really good.”

“You met me today,” Kihyun says with a soft giggle. “You can’t know for sure. I mean, we’re totally feeding you, Hansel.”

“For the right reasons,” Changkyun giggles, turns his face to look at Kihyun. _He’s cute, ugh_. “I get the feeling I’m going to sleep reeeeeally well tonight.”

“That’s the point,” Kihyun says. “I think I have… a new toothbrush in a drawer somewhere, I’ll find you that and… You can roll into bed.” He flattens his hands on the floor and pushes himself up, arms flexing a little. _Mm, arms_ . _Aaaarmssss_.

Changkyun holds his hands up, pouting. “Help me up?”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow as he stands up and then reaches for Changkyun’s hands. “Yes, yes, baby, come on.”

“I’m baby,” Changkyun mumbles, lets Kihyun pull him up to his feet, blinking slowly once he does. “Stage name, Baby.”

“Like the movie?” Kihyun asks with a grin as he lets Changkyun go.

“Nobody leaves Baby in a corner,” Changkyun nods. “Unless that’s where Baby wants to be.”

Kihyun walks into the kitchen to grab something and then meets with Changkyun again in the small corridor. The door to the bathroom is open and there’s steam rolling up to the ceiling. Even so, Kihyun walks in and rummages through a drawer, brings out a toothbrush still inside its pack and then tosses it over.

“There and here,” he says as he walks closer and drops a pill in Changkyun’s hand. “Magnesium. I’d tell you to take it in the morning but… Do it now, you’ll need it.”

Changkyun smiles and bows his head a little. “See you… later today, then.”

“See ya,” Kihyun says with a little smile before he turns to knock at his bedroom’s door. “Dicks covered, I’m coming in!”

“One sec!” Jooheon shouts from the bedroom.

“Keep squeaking and the neighbors will call the cops,” Kihyun mutters even as he walks in.

“I said! One second!”

Kihyun snorts and closes the door.

Changkyun wonders if he’ll ever get a friend like that. Wonders, and hopes. But he was right on one account; he sleeps just… _really fucking good_.

\---

There’s pancakes for breakfast, which happens at 1PM. But this time there’s also warm coffee, cold coffee, eggs and bacon. Not just that, but Changkyun gets to eat breakfast while staring at two half naked boys; Kihyun, dark brown hair all fluffy and wavy, just in sweatpants, and Jooheon, orange fluffy hair, just in shorts.

And stare Changkyun does. Because for some _goddamn reason_ , Kihyun is literally, exactly Changkyun’s type, and it’s _terrible_ . Kihyun looks squishy, is, a little, but he’s got like… _chest_ . And when he moves, the squishy looking arms show toned muscle and… _hnnnnn_.

Changkyun realises he’s been chewing on the same piece of bacon for _quite a while._ So he swallows, looks away. This isn’t a strip club, Changkyun, get a grip. 

And yeah, his muscles hurt a bit, but it’s easily manageable thanks to Kihyun’s advice. He has a feeling it’ll just get worse, though, before it gets better. Before his body gets used to all this dancing and squatting and _poles_.

“Not used to being the most dressed in the room,” Changkyun notes idly.

Kihyun looks up from his plate, sleep pasted to his face, and blinks slowly at Changkyun. “I can put on a shirt,” Kihyun says as he leans back and makes to get up, probably to do just that.

“That’s not what I said,” Changkyun scoffs, ears warm as he finishes up his eggs. _Fluffy_. “I think the two of us are pretty used to half naked men at this point…”

Kihyun slumps down and sighs, “Sort of… Depends on the man.”

“That is a _mood,”_ Jooheon mutters as he takes a sip of his cold coffee.

Changkyun looks at Kihyun again and has to agree. Not out loud, of course, that’s why he fills his mouth with food before it can even think about betraying him like that. 

Kihyun frowns a little. “Still at it?”

“Not my fault,” Jooheon mutters, puts his coffee down and picks up his fork to poke at his eggs. “I see him every day, it’s not like I can just _quit my job.”_

Changkyun blinks. “At it…” He blinks again before his eyes go wide. “You have a crush on one of the dancers?!”

Jooheon’s face goes red and he blinks at his eggs, meanwhile Kihyun just chokes a little, turns his face and hides it in the arm he folds over the table. _Birthmark… spotted._

“Who…?” Changkyun asks, looking between the two of them. “I mean, if you wanna tell me, I don’t wanna pry but I do.”

Jooheon frowns and then sighs. “It’s _not_ serious. Don’t get all excited…”

Kihyun lifts his head a little and sniffles, “God, I think those eggs went the wrong way…” His eyes are all shiny with tears. “I think… there are eggs in my nose…”

“Dude, gross!” Jooheon complains.

“Oooh,” Changkyun giggles, “Blow your nose and see if any eggs come out!”

“M’laying,” Kihyun laughs as he reaches for his napkin and blows his nose.

“You finally turned into a chicken,” Jooheon says as he leans back.

“His final form,” Changkyun giggles.

Kihyun rolls his eyes and then leans back to squint at the napkin before folding it and blowing his nose again. “Ah, feels weird…”

Changkyun just smiles at Kihyun, but looks away when Jooheon notices. 

Unfortunately, a few minutes later, Kihyun is dressed completely, fluffy hair styled back again, makeup on, and they’re off to work. 

Changkyun watches them turn on the lights (there are no windows in a place like this) and Kihyun starts readying the bar, so Changkyun slips into the dressing room. He prefers to do his makeup and clothes here, because it feels like a safe place to go a little ‘extra’ on the sexy. This makeup is too damn dark and sparkly to do in a stranger’s bathroom, and these pants far too tight. He leaves his hair without any product, though, so he can actually touch it.

At least the lacy underwear is actually comfortable. It barely exists, after all.

He walks out and it’s crazy, because it could be any time at all. There’s no way to tell, but the atmosphere screams ‘nightlife’, even if they’re still the only ones here. And, that being the case, Changkyun is well within his rights to sit by the bar and do absolutely fuck-all until clients start arriving.

“Did you check the stock?” Kihyun asks as he absently twirls a pen in his hand. He’s looking at a list as he leans over the counter. “Should text the provider, check when they’re bringing the kegs…”

“I did,” Jooheon shouts from the kitchen, “Two left. Should be enough for today. It’s Sunday.”

“True…” Kihyun mutters, pokes his frown with the back of the pen. “True…” He sniffles and then sighs. “Then ten of each… Plus, the bottled ones, Maekju… Gangseo...” He scribbles something on the paper.

“Another perk,” Changkyun mumbles. “No admin.”

“Huh?” Kihyun blinks up. “What?”

Changkyun gestures to the notepad. “Responsibilities. All I need to do is shave.”

“Oh,” Kihyun looks down and nods. “Right. Well… Not really, but I get it. You also have to squat seductively and all that… Did we order the Cass Lemon, too? I have all of them minus the Cass Lemon!”

“Uh…” Jooheon hums from the kitchen. “No idea, man. That’s your job, not mine.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes and sighs. “Whatever…” He looks up at Changkyun. “But yes, squatting seductively. Couldn’t do that to live.”

Changkyun smiles, rests his cheek on his hand. “I don’t think I’ve squatted seductively in your presence as of yet.”

Kihyun blinks and then snorts and looks down. “Please, don’t. Unless you really have to.”

Changkyun laughs. “You sound like you’re honest to God scared of me _squatting_.”

“I’m only human, Changkyun,” Kihyun says. “Only human.”

Changkyun feels himself blush and look away. “Aren’t we all…”

“Some people more than others,” Kihyun says before looking up and narrowing his eyes at Changkyun. “It will be chill today, by the way… So, don’t get sad if you don’t make as much as you did yesterday. Saturdays are wild.”

“Ah, it’s okay,” Changkyun waves a hand. “Gives me time to practise. I’ve mostly just been winging it.”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow. “Well, if that was winging it, then I don’t want to see you serious and practiced.”

“I will take that compliment,” Changkyun laughs, wiggles in the bar stool. “I have loose hips,” he teases and then laughs at himself, forehead to the counter.

“Jesus,” Kihyun laughs. “Okay. _Thank you,_ for that information.”

“I’m just being honest,” Changkyun laughs into his arms before resting his chin on his crossed arms, eyes on Kihyun. “Not as loose as Hoseok’s. Jesus Christ.”

Kihyun tongues at the corner of his lips. And even though he’s not smiling with his mouth, he’s smiling with his eyes. “He was the newbie until last night. Although, I don’t think he’ll be staying for long.”

Changkyun frowns. “That’s fine, but why not? He looks happy enough, but I haven’t really talked to him much.”

Kihyun’s eyes drift to the side for a moment and then he tilts his head as if to point. When Changkyun looks over his shoulder, he finds himself staring at the DJ’s mixer.

Changkyun blinks, frowns. “Hyungwon..?”

“Hyungwon,” Kihyun says like it explains everything.

 _Oh_. “He’s in love with Hyungwon… But--” Changkyun blinks some more. “Hyungwon works here, he should know it’s not like that, right?”

“There’s a difference between rationally knowing ‘it’s not like that’ and managing to deal with whatever your brain pulls from the abyss to slap you with. Besides, he’s a DJ. Not a stripper.”

Changkyun pouts, lying on his arms again. “Now I’m just sad, thanks.”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow. “Because…?”

“I wanna fall in love, too…” Changkyun says, like it explains everything.

“Well…” Kihyun frowns and looks down, shrugs. “Look at Minhyuk and Shownu. It works for them. So… it’s not all lost, is it?”

“Only strippers date strippers,” Changkyun mumbles before looking around when he hears the door open, Minhyuk singing something Changkyun doesn’t recognise at the top of his damn lungs.

Kihyun shrugs and mumbles, “Not necessarily…”

“What’s up, Beauty and the--” Minhyuk gestures to Kihyun. “Bleh. Nice day out, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know, I am clearly a vampire and the sun hurts me,” Kihyun says as he pushes away from the counter.

“Beauty and the Salt Creature, apparently,” Minhyuk scoffs, turns to look at Changkyun. Changkyun notes that he looks pleased.

“You know the sugar in me only increases as much as you speak, baby, so you better keep talking,” Kihyun says as he waves at Minhyuk without looking at him.

“Nah, I’m done with you now,” Minhyuk laughs, ruffles at Changkyun’s hair. “I like this, you look boyfriend.”

“Thanks, that’s the point,” Changkyun says, sticking his tongue out at Minhyuk.

Kihyun scoffs from the other side of the bar and Changkyun sees him pick up the phone and dial a number. Before Kihyun turns turns to walk away, though, he looks up, catches Changkyun’s eye and winks at him (quite casually, actually).

It startles Changkyun enough to blush, distracts himself by looking Minhyuk up and down and noting, “You’re already dressed for the job, I see.”

“I wear it with pride, honey,” Minhyuk scoffs.

“Yes,” Changkyun scoffs. “Yes, you do. Do I wear the boyfriend look with pride?” Changkyun asks, pinching at the material of his loose fitting white tank top.

Minhyuk shrugs. “I don’t know. We’ll ask Kiki, next time. Now, follow me, boyfriend. I have things to teach you.”

“Oh, boy.”

\---

It’s not a lie that not only strippers date strippers. Just like not only bartenders date bartenders. But it’s true that, whichever the case, working in the night industry does put a strain on intimate relationships with people who don’t belong in it.

And it’s not even about the jealousy, sometimes. Though being touched by others (in a stripper’s case) and being surrounded by alcohol and as many hot people as not so hot ones handing in their numbers (bartender’s case) can make anyone jealous.

It’s about missing out on things. Because the rest of the world lives during the day. It’s impossible to see people all the time, unless they have night shifts. It’s impossible to attend certain events because those tend to happen before midnight. So, friends and family? Tough.

Still, Kihyun has found, it’s got far too many perks. He barely sees his family and they probably thank him for it. And all his friends work the night shift, too. Plus, it’s good money. It makes traveling a lot easier, which Kihyun likes to do with Jooheon, every now and then.

So, rush hours aside, chill days like Sunday nights are when Kihyun gets to enjoy his job the most. Because he’s not pumped with adrenaline, practicality kicking in, and he can actually enjoy it, serve drinks calmly without stressing about stamping cards and actually _seeing_ the cash coming in.

Or well… that would be it; chill, if he weren’t currently trying to figure out what the fuck Minhyuk is doing with Changkyun on stage. Meaning; it’s disturbing in far too pleasant ways.

And this is _after_ Minhyuk had taken Changkyun to one of the private lap dance rooms and taught him _god knows what_.

Minhyuk is the best on pole work, among everyone who works here, he makes it look fluid and effortlessly sexy. And that’s something Changkyun seems to catch on to, even if he struggles with the more complicated tricks, he makes just… _moving_ look good. Changkyun takes steps around the pole, fluid. Kihyun doesn’t see Minhyuk do it, but he sees when Changkyun holds both hands on the pole and spins himself without letting go, back to the pole as he slowly squats down, head thrown back.

Jooheon slowly _scoots_ closer and crosses his arms in the same way Kihyun has his, says, “Want a drink…?” and doesn’t need to look at Kihyun nodding faintly to just blindly slide two glasses with ice closer and pour whatever the fuck that is.

Kihyun takes a sip and it tastes like Bourbon.

Once on the floor, Changkyun puts a foot on the pole and stretches his leg up against it completely, the other leg firmly on the ground. Even Minhyuk looks impressed with that. Changkyun is flexible. _Great_. Good for him.

Probably the worst thing is something Kihyun recognises from seeing Minhyuk do before. Changkyun lies on his back, hands on the pole to pull himself up in a smooth tumble, lands on his knees with his ass right up against the pole, keeping it there as he slides his hands out in front of him until his cheek presses to the floor, looking at Kihyun with a small smile.

_Nope._

“The kegs,” Kihyun mutters as he looks down at his glass instead. _Ice, so much ice._ “The providers will be here in an hour, I’ll need your help to bring them in through the back.”

“Sounds good,” Jooheon mumbles and then frowns. “Damn, he’s hot.”

“I’m trying not to think about it, Joo. _Thank you.”_

Kihyun hears Changkyun laugh from the stage, and when he looks up, he’s--he’s upside down on the goddamn pole, legs crossed around it and Minhyuk holding his torso up just before Changkyun lets go and lands somewhat clumsily on the stage.

“Ow,” Changkyun laughs, starfishing. Minhyuk helps him up with a wicked grin that he aims at Kihyun.

“How does he look, Kiki?”

Kihyun takes a long drink. “Like,” he swallows and puts the glass down. “Right now? Or overall? You need to specify, Minnie.”

Minhyuk narrows his eyes, grin in place and Changkyun is just standing there, cheeks pink, eyes between the two of them. “On stage.”

Kihyun looks at Jooheon. “Don’t know, what do you think?”

Jooheon shrugs. “I mean, right now he’s just flustered…”

“Right, but like, on stage.”

“Hm, I’d say… With a bit more practice he might be better than some people.”

“Right?” Kihyun turns to Minhyuk. “He’s got more potential than you!”

Changkyun opens and closes his mouth like a fish out of water and Minhyuk smiles like he just made his mind up about something.

“Now, off stage,” Minhyuk says, tugging at Changkyun’s shirt to get him to follow. “Come on, Kiki, we need a guinea pig.”

Kihyun gapes. “Excuse me?” He looks at Jooheon and pushes him. “You go. I have people to serve. And the kegs. Kegs. _Lots of kegs._ ”

Jooheon shrugs, “I mean, I don’t mind…”

“Ohoho, no, that’s in an hour, I heard that,” Minhyuk says. “Come on, Kiki, don’t offend the new kid.”

Changkyun flusters. “I’m not offe--”

“Shhh, sweetie.”

“Dude,” Kihyun looks to Jooheon.

“Dude?” Jooheon snorts.

Kihyun pushes himself against Jooheon to push him away and mumbles, “Why is it _always_ me that he tries to mess with? I am fragile. I am fine with looking but--”

“Dude, you think I know?” Jooheon snorts, whispers, “I wish he’d pick me but apparently I’m invisible.”

“Shut up, you’re not invisible.”

“Pretty sure he thinks my name is ‘Honey’...”

Kihyun pauses. _Well, that might be true._ “But--”

“Can’t I do it?” Jooheon asks louder as he looks at Minhyuk, finger pointing at himself.

“No, because I said so,” Minhyuk says, and Kihyun sees Changkyun a little wide eyed before they disappear into a table dancing booth, Minhyuk closing one of the two curtains.

“I am _not_ walking into one of those with you,” Kihyun says, glances at a few people that look over from their table and then giggle between them. _Goddamn it._

“Yoo Kihyun!” Minhyuk yells from the booth. “You’re being rude!”

“Do I get something for bringing him in?” Jooheon shouts and then laughs and shrinks away when Kihyun slaps at his arm.

“A kiss on the cheek, honey!”

“You really don’t--” Changkyun tries again.

“ _Shush_.”

Jooheon looks at Kihyun and Kihyun knows, in that same second, that he’s got no other choice. He might be able to win at arm wrestling against Jooheon but he can’t win at body wrestling. So, Kihyun has no choice but to let himself be dragged and then thrown into a booth, Minhyuk giving Jooheon a loud kiss on the cheek.

_Good gracious._

He almost falls face down but then flinches when he realizes where he is and just stands there as straight as a pole-- _funny, considering..._

It’s moderately intimidating, with plush couches folding around a table with a pole through it, dim, flattering light on the ceiling, a mirror covering the wall. It can seat about… eight people? But Kihyun gets quickly pushed to the seat at the head of the table.

“That’s the best seat,” Minhyuk cackles, Changkyun sitting cross legged on the table, looking at himself in the mirror.

“This,” Kihyun says very seriously, “Is bullying.”

Changkyun bites at his lip, looking at his own reflection. “I don’t wanna do it if he doesn’t wanna be here,” Changkyun says softly, giving Minhyuk a look and hugging his legs a little closer.

Kihyun takes a deep breath and _glares_ at Minhyuk. _Stupid Satan spawn. Also, stupid me for being the way I am._ Helping people, somehow, kind of comes with the curse of not wanting them to be sad about stupid shit. 

“It’s fine…” Kihyun says. _It isn’t._ “Besides,” Kihyun raises an eyebrow at Changkyun. “Aren’t _you_ supposed to convince me that I want to be here…?”

“Well, you did just agree to,” Changkyun says, smiling somewhat. 

Kihyun crosses his arms. “Sure…” _Bad idea._

Minhyuk closes the other curtain and sits down, crossing his legs. “Alright, do what I taught you. Honey! Turn the music louder!”

“Wait, one sec,” Kihyun says, peeks at Minhyuk, “I know you know I am sensitive, so take that into consideration. Just in case you need to call an ambulance.” He’s not _that_ sensitive, but working _here_ and requiring this place’s services are two very different things.

Changkyun laughs behind his hand before standing up on the table in front of Kihyun, immediately reaching for the pole to steady himself just as the music actually does go louder, a speaker behind Kihyun now playing ‘Myself’ by Bazzi.

‘ _I think I’m losing my mind_ ’.

 _You and me both, Bazzi._ And, really, it’s not about the seduction of it all. Kihyun can deal with that, deals with it on the daily. But one, this is someone he is actually somewhat attracted to already. Two, Jooheon was right, Kihyun is a romantic. So, professionally? This is fine. On a personal level? _Help..._

Probably entirely on purpose, the first thing Changkyun does is slide slowly into a squat facing Kihyun and smirk over his shoulder, arching his back towards the pole as he raises himself up without raising his head, legs entirely straight, ass up. And Kihyun just tries to keep the swallowing and the frowning to a minimum as he leans back, arms still crossed for _protection,_ an armor against this… this _dark magic._

Changkyun’s pants slide down a little in the movement, revealing lace. Very little lace, at that. That is… definitely a g-string. _Imagine walking into a shop to buy that..._

Clearly a practised move, then, when he spins himself around the pole, Minhyuk giving a small ‘whoop!’, and lowers himself down to the table before he starts crawling over the table to Kihyun, reaching out once he’s close enough to take Kihyun’s wrists and pin them above his head.

_Totally so not fine._

Again, Kihyun tries to keep the frowning to a minimum when he looks up at Changkyun-- _not down, not down, Yoo Kihyun._ Which is difficult, considering Changkyun moves himself around to put a foot on either side of Kihyun, legs spread on the table in front of him.

Kihyun takes a breath and blinks once, then lets his eyes wander down and away, to Minhyuk, _I am going to kill you, bitch._

Changkyun lets go of his wrists, says, “Stay,” and lies back on the table, feet pressing into the couch Kihyun is sitting on, raising his hips as he undoes the fly of his pants, and yep-- _lace_. 

“Jesus fucking Christ…” Kihyun groans softly as he sinks down.

He actually hears Changkyun giggle before he works the pants down his thighs, finally lifting his legs to pull them off entirely, throw them so the side. From this angle, with his ass raised like this, Kihyun can barely see that damned lace g-string. Changkyun just looks… naked, if not for the tank top.

“I’m not rich enough to afford this,” Kihyun mutters, melting some more where he sits. Maybe if he makes himself as small as possible, it will be better.

Changkyun spreads his legs again to sit up, turns around and slides down the table and right onto Kihyun’s lap with a little smile. Kihyun literally just raises his hands like there’s a gun pointed at him.

It’s more of a call for help, really. There’s a lot of… _butt._ But he tries not to focus on that, or the little arch on Changkyun’s lower-- _oh my god._ It’s just going downhill. _Literally!_

Changkyun reaches back for Kihyun’s hands, puts them on his hips before moving them up to take the tank top with it until that gets thrown into the corner, too, Changkyun guiding Kihyun’s hands back down his sides before draping himself on the table, lifting his ass as he crawls back onto it.

Never mind that Changkyun smells really good, never mind that he feels really smooth, there’s far too much information being pushed into Kihyun’s brain. 

Kihyun has seen people do this once or twice. _Hell,_ he’s seen Minhyuk do it more than once. And Minhyuk is a type. But Kihyun has never really been this close. And Changkyun is just… well, Changkyun. Which just makes Kihyun feel all sorts of guilty for the tingly feeling at his lower abdomen.

“This would be so much easier with alcohol…” he says.

“For you, maybe,” Changkyun laughs, standing up. _Tattoos_. 

“Definitely for me, really.”

“It’s a small table, I’d fall off if I was drunk,” Changkyun says, moving to hold the pole again.

“If I’m drunk enough I might not even notice, so…”

Changkyun giggles again, a hand moving down to hook into his g-string, hips moving to the beat up and down the pole as he runs a hand up his chest, over his throat and down to his stomach, into his underwear.

Minhyuk just… isn’t here anymore. _Fucking when?!_

Kihyun clears his throat, eyes panicking and going up to Changkyun’s face. “Between one and ten, how red am I right now?”

“Eleven,” Changkyun grins.

“Knew it was hot it here,” Kihyun mutters. He can’t feel his ears anymore.

Changkyun just lowers himself to sit, legs crossed with the pole between his legs, cheek squished against it. “That’s all I learned…”

“All,” Kihyun nods. “ _All,_ he says.”

Changkyun laughs softly. “Well, I _am_ supposed to take this off, too--” 

“We’re _fine,”_ Kihyun stresses as he raises one finger. “We’re fine.” _So not fine._

Changkyun smiles, holds out a hand. “Wanna give me my clothes?”

Kihyun blindly feels for Changkyun’s pants and top and hands them over. “I’d pay, but unfortunately I don’t have my wallet on me. So… pancakes will have to do.”

Changkyun shakes his head. “Don’t worry, it was… nice to practise with someone I trust.”

“Touched,” Kihyun mumbles, glances up.

“Yes, I was.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes and takes a deep breath before just… melting under the table. “Bye.” He crawls on the floor and exits through the other side before standing up. “For the record, first time I had anyone in my face like that.”

Changkyun smiles sheepishly. “Hope you liked it..?”

Kihyun looks down at his pants and then shivers. “Oh. Yes. _Totally.”_

Changkyun giggles, hides his face. His ears are all red. They weren’t even a little red when he was dancing, though. “Does the bar have coffee, too?”

“No… Not officially, no.” Kihyun sighs and shivers again before pushing the curtains open and glancing over his shoulder. “Want a cup?”

“Desperately.”

“Ain’t that a mood.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're nocturnal. And the night sky is the dark blue hazed blanket that wills them to forget the bad and remember the good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW for non-explicit, off screen portrayal of a man trying to force himself on a stripper.

Kihyun hates ‘Ladies Night’.

It’s got nothing to do with that one regular from two months ago (now banned from getting in) who had told Kihyun she wanted to bite his toes off and then actually tried to bite him when he served her drink. 

Also not about the one lady who wanted to report Kihyun’s Martini-making skills because he didn’t know what extra dirty meant. Or, well, Kihyun knew, she didn’t--she didn’t know it meant extra vodka and not extra-whatever-she-was-blabbing-about.

Same lady who then flew the Martini across the bar and shattered it over two customers.

Nope. Not about that, at all.

It’s just… _so much work._ And so much stress. Not to mention everyone is loud. So fucking loud Kihyun can barely hear whatever Hyungwon is punching into that mixer. 

And yes, some men are dirty, but so are some women. It’s this thing humans have, really. And when stupidity gathers together there's no stopping the avalanche of… well, even more stupidity. Some sort of herd mentality that maxes out at three brain cells.

‘Ladies Night’ at a strip club? A strip club with boy strippers? Kihyun’s undercut gets the chills. Mostly because what these women want to see, what these women pay for, is to have the strippers makeout with each other, while also stripping each other and--Kihyun doesn’t want to know whatever else goes on in those booths, really.

Unless the girls specify, however, it’s just Hyunwoo and Minhyuk. But, often times, they do specify. Like they're making a bouquet of flowers or something, and just picking the prettiest ones and pushing them together. 

It's the strippers’ job. _Yes._ But there's a civil way to do things. This clusterfuck? It's sickening after a while, especially because Kihyun can see the look on these people's faces and hear the shit they whisper to each other over the counter.

So, what does Kihyun do on ‘Ladies Night’? Drink on the job. Even smoke a little. Just enough to be fine, just enough to get past everything and smile every now and then.

On nights like these, a few part timers join, too. There’s five people working the bar, one in the kitchen, and another making sure things are clean, that there are no glasses left in random corners and that the tables are ready whenever someone leaves.

It means that, once in a while, Kihyun can just sneak out through the back door and sit down on one of the steps with a joint between his lips. 

_Stupid fucking adrenaline making me jumpy..._

He massages his forehead, takes a drag and sighs. At least the crazy toes lady can’t find him anymore. It’s something Kihyun would totally tell his therapist about.

The sound of glass shattering nearby startles him a little and he takes the joint between his fingers and stares at the end of the alley, puffs the smoke and frowns. A group of girls passes by on the main street, one of them cackling like an evil witch. It makes Kihyun snort and shake his head.

“Oh, God, give me that,” Changkyun’s voice says from behind him, suddenly, just before he plops down on the stairs next to him.

Kihyun glances over and takes a smoke before passing it over. “Not too much, we need you fine in there…”

“I know, I know,” Changkyun sighs, taking a long drag. He barely coughs. “Nobody warned me about this part enough, I swear,” Changkyun laughs, ruffling at his own hair.

“It happens once a month, get that into your head,” Kihyun scoffs and sniffles to fight against the runny nose. “It’s a plague…”

“I’m starting to hate the word ‘ _oppa’_ ,” Changkyun laughs, stretching a little where he sits. 

“Wait until they pay you call Hyunwoo that… Or Hoseok.”

Changkyun pulls a face. “I think they’d like that even less than I do. Hoseok and Hyunwoo, I mean. Kinda fucked that no one pays _them_ to call _me_ oppa...”

Kihyun sniffles again and leans back, elbows on the step behind them. “You know… There was one. One person, in all of tonight, who said ‘thank you’ in the midst of all this chaos. It’s the only face I remember so far. Also, what’s this thing with the damn Martinis? I’m _tired_ of making Martinis!”

Changkyun laughs. “They’re trying to be the next James Bond.”

Kihyun huffs a laugh and lets his head fall back a little. “Two months ago the _shit_ was the fucking Margaritas. Do you even _know_ how many glasses I rolled in salt? It’s a lot of finger work.”

“Ehehe, finger work,” Changkyun cackles. “Sorry, I had to.” Changkyun stretches some more, he must be really sore by now.

“I appreciate it. The wording was entirely on purpose,” Kihyun scoffs, glances over and reaches for the joint, takes it from Changkyun’s hand.

“And that’s why we get along, Ki,” Changkyun says, smiling over. “It’s my first show tonight… I have to go out on that stage and ‘advertise’.”

Kihyun takes a smoke and raises an eyebrow, “And what are you advertising, exactly? Yourself, I know, but which--” Kihyun gestures at Changkyun, all of him, “Bit.”

“For girls?” Changkyun scoffs, points down at his crotch. “Voila.”

“Smart,” Kihyun admits. “Although… that’s debatable. When you like sucking dick you also like that, y’know. It’s not just all about the asses.” Kihyun looks up. “I mean… It’s about the asses. But boys like dicks, too. When will people stop using these words so interchangeably, _god...”_

“I know, I know,” Changkyun laughs. “Just gonna go out there butt-ass naked and hope they see something they like, I guess.”

“What’s there not to like,” Kihyun mumbles as he takes another smoke and then hands it over. Changkyun takes another drag, leaning back, eyes on the sky. 

“People have types. Even I have a type,” Changkyun shrugs.

“True, but…” Kihyun watches Changkyun’s face, his profile. “You know when straight cis men talk about women and it’s all _‘ooooh, big boobs, big buuuuutts’_ and then turns out that when it comes down to it, what they brag about wanting and liking is too much woman for them? It works the same way with guys. Everyone talks about wanting more _man_ than they can deal with,” Kihyun scoffs.

“Ah, I’m not worried about that,” Changkyun smiles a little. “And why do you keep talking like I’m not gay as hell?”

Kihyun narrows his eyes. “Really? I was betting on the bisexual side of life.”

“So was my mother.”

Kihyun barks a laugh and then just sits up and hides his face between his arms. “Aish… You told her?” he asks, lifts his head and looks at Changkyun.

“I’m an honest person,” Changkyun scoffs, looks away with a small frown. 

“Uh-huh,” Kihyun teases. “I mean… I would have, maybe, told my mother… But I started talking about bartending and she flipped, so I had to move out. Didn’t get to the sexuality part. Though it’s for the best… I think she’d have died, considering she flipped that much about bartending.”

“Jesus, really? Just for bartending?”

Kihyun shrugs and crosses his arms over his knees. “Night life, overall. You know what people think about that. Unhealthy, all sorts of dangerous… yadda yadda.”

“Nobody I know knows but I can imagine… How long have you been doing this?”

“Bartending? Since eighteen,” Kihyun mutters. “I’m twenty five now, so… do the math for me.”

“Ew, maths,” Changkyun laughs. “Seven years. Damn. That’s a long-ass time. You’re gonna be here as long as I am. Never gonna see a bar without you behind it.”

“Plan on staying, then?” Kihyun asks just because.

Changkyun nods, smiling. “Already made enough to think of moving out of the shoebox, so… Yeah, yeah, I’m staying.”

Kihyun nods and looks down at his shoes. “What song will you do today?”

“It’s a surprise,” Changkyun sing-songs.

“Last time anyone said that to me,” Kihyun scoffs, “Minhyuk danced ‘For Your Entertainment’ by Adam Lambert? An experience…” Kihyun groans with the image that resurfaces and then shivers. “God.”

“Oh, _man_ ,” Changkyun laughs. “That’s a hot song, though...”

Kihyun turns to gape. “That’s the fucking problem! I don’t need to feel the hots for Lee Minhyuk! It kills my brain cells!”

Changkyun laughs. “Ohoho. Did you fancy him once upon a time? I’ve seen you guys rip each other apart verbally.”

“No,” Kihyun frowns. “Just… I kinda… Maybe. Like, before he said _two_ words to me and all I could feel was that we were destined to be at each other’s throats until the end of the world came around. Or one of us died.”

“Sounds like fun,” Changkyun teases. “Nothing for Hoseok or Hyunwoo, then?”

Kihyun rolls his eyes. “Not my type… Hoseok would crush me in his sleep… I like to live.”

Changkyun barks a laugh. “Ah, definitely not Minhyuk, then… They’re not my type either, by the way.”

“Don’t get me wrong… I can appreciate the--” Kihyun struggles for words and just sticks his tongue out. “Bleh… uhm…”

“Oh, same, yeah,” Changkyun laughs. “I just, personally? Like ‘em sooooft.”

“You must like yourself quite a lot then.”

“Didn’t we already establish that?” Changkyun laughs. “Funny that to me, the hottest people here are the bartenders.”

Kihyun blinks slowly at the wall. “You should tell Joo that. I think he needs someone to compliment him and mean it.”

Changkyun pouts. “He’s stupid and handsome so I will,” Changkyun smiles, makes a small grunt noise when he stands up. “Me fookin’ _legs_ ,” he complains, takes another drag and hands it over. “Thanks.”

Kihyun looks at the joint and takes it before putting it out. “You’re welcome…” He’s dreading going back inside already, but it’s what he gets paid to do, so it’s what he’ll do. “Good luck with your show.”

“Thanks,” Changkyun smiles. “Will you give me a ‘wahoo?’”

“Will do. Woo the hell out of them.”

“Will do.”

  
  


\---  


“Hello, handsome,” Hyunjung says as she drapes herself over the counter and reaches over to steal an olive for the Dirty Martini Kihyun is preparing. She purposely takes extra long to suck it off of her fingers.

“You’re late,” Kihyun says, barely spares her and her long platinum hair a second look.

She shrugs, “It’s Ladies Night, we only start at midnight, after the boys are done showing off.”

 _Right._ Yet another thing about Ladies Night, it goes until _fucking_ _6AM!_

“And you call that a shift?” Kihyun scoffs, starts piercing the olives with the tiny red stick, “You barely even come in anymore. It’s just the boys.”

“I told you, I’m only doing Ladies Night, now. Live with it.”

“I am, _quite literally.”_

Hyunjung gives Kihyun a grin when he hands the Martini to a lady nearby. “Well, I guess I’ll go get dressed. Also, I’ve heard my replacement is quite the show.”

Two women jump to the counter and say, “Two Strawberry Vodkas!” in varying different tones. _Who likes that shit, anyway?_

“That is an understatement,” Kihyun tells Hyunjung as he flips two long tube glasses on the counter and crouches to get the Strawberry Vodka. “But I suppose you’ll have to see for yourself.”

Kihyun serves the two girls and then notices Hyunjung is no longer around. She does that, evaporate to end conversations, giving off this cool vibe or whatever. _Fucking Capricorns..._

And speaking of which...

“Chicken,” is all Hyungwon says when he sits down by the bar, and Kihyun is sure it’s both a request _and_ a nickname. Kihyun just raises an eyebrow at him and then reaches for the notepad nearby to write _‘Chicken Wings’_ before ripping it off and walking to Jooheon, slapping it over his chest.

On the way back, Kihyun grabs a Redbull and cracks it open, dumps it into a glass and offers it to Hyungwon with a muttered, “Here you go.”

Hyungwon groans after a long sip, melts a little. “Ambrosia. Seriously.” He looks around, up at the lights as they turn blue. 

“Don’t worry, it’s not Hoseok,” Kihyun says with a quick glance at the stage and then quickly turning to the two girls who show up by Hyungwon’s side.

“New kid? Huh,” Hyungwon huffs, turns around in his chair to face the stage. “I’m actually curious.”

 _I’m not._

“Is that so?” Kihyun asks, takes the girls’ cards and looks at them.

“A beer and a Mojito,” one of them says.

“Yeah, Minnie and Seok are always going on about his ‘potential’,” Hyungwon scoffs. “Whatever that means.”

“Pretty sure it’s a metaphor for dick,” Kihyun mumbles as he tries to recall how the fuck to do a Mojito instead of remembering things he shouldn’t be thinking about, least of all right now.

 _Mint leaves… white rum, lime…?_ But did it take syrup? That’s the doubt.

“Oh, goodie,” Hyungwon says, like he actually means it despite the deadpan on his face. “Ooooh--” Hyungwon turns around, grins at Kihyun. “What if he’s bigger than Shownu?”

Kihyun reaches for the shaker tin and props it open over the lower counter on his side of the bar. “Bigger than Hyunwoo…?” _How big was that, again…?_ “Is that even possible? I mean, he’s not that tall. Changkyun, I mean. Do physics even allow that?"

Hyungwon shrugs. “Just thinking out loud over here.” He points to the DJ booth, where Hoseok is standing where Hyungwon usually does. “He just needs to press a button and then we shall see.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes and turns to walk to the kitchen. He glances at Jooheon, who’s currently taking care of Hyungwon’s chicken wings, and then picks up the mint leaves from the cute looking plant they got from the supermarket last week-- _how does Jooheon even remember to water this thing…?_

When Kihyun makes it back outside, things have gotten a little quieter. Not that there are less people around, not really, the lot of them just seem poisoned enough, all with glasses in hand--that was stressful to serve--and the lights have dimmed to nothing but blue.

Kihyun washes the mint leaves and then throws them into the shaker tin, together with ice, white rum and simple syrup, all muddled together. He closes the tin up and brings it up, starts shaking it to chill, sparing the stage a glance.

Changkyun is already there, and Kihyun immediately recognises the song. _‘Champion’_ by SATV Music. Changkyun is, actually, fully dressed, all black and leather. He moves across the stage like he literally owns it, pulling the leather jacket down over his shoulders, smirking at the girls sitting around the stage and winking. 

One of the girls squeaks and throws a note onto the stage, and Changkyun walks closer (‘walk’ is a simple way of describing the way he saunters, really) and takes off the jacket, tossing it at her and squatting down in front of her, knees apart, taking the note between two fingers and blowing her a kiss with the hand.

Kihyun rolls his eyes and strains the drink into a highball glass with ice that Jooheon places nearby at the same time he places the chicken wings over the counter. Kihyun tops the drink with a bit of soda and adds some mint as garnish before handing the drink over to one of the girls and turning to go get the beer, eyes on Changkyun.

It’s quite manageable, until Changkyun starts body rolling against the pole. Even Changkyun’s features have shifted into pure sin, with the way he makes his eyes seem darker, lips parted. He lifts himself up with his arms and crosses his legs to keep him up as he lets go with his hands and leans back, upside down, undoing the buttons of his tight black leather pants.

Kihyun looks away to take the beer and sighs. It would be so much easier if he was surrounded by… less attractive people. _Like Hyungwon. So not attractive._

“You need a haircut,” Kihyun mutters when he walks by and hands the beer to the girl who barely pays him any mind, her eyes wide and glued to the stage.

“That’s your opinion,” Hyungwon says, eyes on the stage, too, eyebrow raised. “Didn’t even know anyone could get out of leather pants that fast…”

“You clearly don’t live with Joo,” Kihyun scoffs, reaches for the cloth and throws it over his shoulder as he starts putting the bottle away, the shaker into the sink to wash.

“Ugh, didn’t need to know that,” Hyungwon laughs.

Kihyun rolls his eyes and puts the shaker to dry, glancing at the stage as he turns, reaching for the cloth to clean the counter. He pauses, though, because, sure enough, Changkyun seems to have gotten rid of most of his clothes, and the girls are practically screaming. 

A girl holds out a note and Changkyun crawls over, takes it with his teeth before pulling her on stage with a smirk, her face incredibly red. He whispers something in her ear and she nods, fumbling over to go sit on the chair at the back of the stage against the mirror. 

It’s smart, showing off what he’d do in a lap dance (shows are free, after all, just advertisement) as he dances for the girl, dropping onto her lap as he does a body roll and smirks, letting the girl run her hands over his torso before he gets up and the girl practically runs off stage, red and giggling. 

... _When did the second song start? Or is it the third? Fuck_.

“Hello, what did I miss?” Jisoo, one of the other ‘special’ strippers says after materializing next to Hyungwon. Her makeup is already done, as usual. _What’s with Capricorns and cool entrances and exits…? Why are there so many Capricons, anyway?_

Hyungwon points at the stage. “It’s still going…”

“New guy?” Jisoo asks, crosses her arms over the counter, nails big and shiny, eyes still on Changkyun.

 _“New_ new,” Hyungwon says. “Aaaand his hand is in his underwear. Wow.”

“It’s… kinda hot,” she mumbles and then looks at Kihyun, who is purposely staring at her. “Hi, Kiki. Gimme a shot, thank you.”

“Oh my god,” Hyungwon laughs, reaches back to smack at Kihyun, who slaps his arm away and reaches for the Irish Cream bottle behind him.

“What,” Kihyun sighs, pops the bottle open and glances at the stage.

 _That was a mistake_.

Changkyun is lying on the stage, hips snapping up in sharp thrusts, a hand around himself and the g-string down his thighs, a hand in his own hair.

Kihyun almost drops the bottle.

“Is that even _allowed?”_ Jisoo laughs, hands over her mouth. “Oh my, oh my. Last time anyone got this bold was…”

“Minhyuk,” Kihyun mutters as he pours Jisoo her Baileys shot.

“Minhyuk’s the one teaching him,” Hyungwon says, eyes wide on the stage as Changkyun throws the underwear towards one of the girls, smirking as he picks himself up onto his knees, moving against the floor. 

Kihyun pours himself a shot as well and glances at the door as he takes it.

The song ends--the last one, ‘ _Heaven in Hiding_ ’ by Halsey and Changkyun stands up, completely naked and smirks, holds his hand out for his stuff as the girls throw it back onto the stage.

“That will be hard to top,” Jisoo says and Kihyun chokes.

“I really hope you phrased it like that on purpose,” Hyungwon laughs. 

“Obviously,” Jisoo says and takes her shot, slams the glass down and waves a little as she starts making her towards the dressing room.

“So,” Kihyun says, clears his throat and sighs. _Thank god it’s over…_ “Not bigger than Hyunwoo’s but…”

“Long,” is all Hyungwon says, taking a slow sip.

“Kinda gave me an idea,” Kihyun scoffs. “Do you knoooow,” Kihyun turns around and looks at the shelves of drinks, finds what he’s looking for and grabs it, turning around again to show it to Hyungwon, “What you call this,” he says as he wiggles the Amaretto and places his other hand over the Bailey’s, “And this with whipped cream topping?”

Hyungwon turns in his chair, eyes narrowed. “Is it something dirty?”

Kihyun licks his lips and turns around three clean shot glasses. “It’s called _the blow job._ Time to prank a kid. _” As payback, mostly, for the heart attack and the mild boner._

  
  


\---

  


Changkyun walks backstage, right into the dressing room, and immediately just… sits the fuck down. 

_Who even are you! What was that!_

He finally lets himself blush and laugh, shaking his head as he looks at himself in the mirror, framed with little light bulbs. He puts his pants back on but leaves the shirt off, just sticking with the leather jacket. Because who gives a shit anymore about being half naked, he just touched himself half-hard on a stage surrounded by screaming women. 

It’s a line he can’t uncross, but that’s okay. He walks around naked at home all the time, in any case (not Kihyun’s home, where he’s been spending most of the nights, _home_ home, the shoebox), now he’s just doing that… not at home. 

Judging by the reaction, he’ll at least make a loooooot of money out of this. As he has, so far. Enough to pay back quite a lot of debt he had to make when things got really difficult and he just had to survive. 

First, though, he needs a drink.

So, he sneaks out of the dressing room and directly to the bar, even if he already catches a few eyes, he _needs that damn drink_.

“Hey,” Changkyun says, sitting down next to Hyungwon. Funny, all of these people have now seen him naked. What a thought. 

“Hey yourself,” Jooheon says nearby, snorts a laugh and turns to walk back to his side of the bar, high fiving a girl who walks out of the kitchen. There are a lot of new faces today, mostly to help out, Changkyun assumes.

Changkyun had met one of them, Hyunjung (goes by Seola), in the dressing room before his show. It’s a shame they’re not always here, she was so nice, and even smacked his ass as he walked up the stairs to the stage. It helped to feel less nervous, really.

Hyungwon pushes one of the three shot glasses closer to Changkyun. It’s layered but it’s starting to mix together, light blue at the bottom, dark brown in the middle, topped with… _whipped cream?_

“For me?” Changkyun asks, eyebrow raised as he picks it up. Hyungwon stops him, though, and glances at Kihyun, who walks out of the kitchen with two funny looking small baskets filled with fries and chicken wings and hands them to two girls.

Kihyun seems to catch Hyungwon's stare and takes a dirty glass from the counter, puts it into the washing machine and walks closer. “Oh, hey,” he says, glancing at Changkyun. “Nice show.” 

“There’s a method to drinking these,” Hyungwon tells Changkyun, gestures at the other shots. “You gotta do it with no hands.”

Kihyun pulls one of the shots closer to him and narrows his eyes at it, “Not to be me, but this layering… Damn. I’m good.”

“You just want me to tell you that you’re good at blow jobs, don’t you?”

Changkyun chokes on nothing, hand to his mouth, ears red, he can feel it. “That’s--That’s what this is called? Oh god.”

“Yes,” Hyungwon says all serious, “Now drink it. No hands. And then say, ‘thank you for the blow job, Kihyun’.”

Kihyun throws his head back and laughs a little, brings his hand up as if to cover his mouth but doesn’t, just looks away for a moment. “You didn’t even tell me if it was good.”

Hyungwon gestures, “Well, I haven’t tried it yet!”

Changkyun blinks down at the drink, just stands up and leans over, lips around the small glass before throwing his head back and feels the shot fill his mouth before he swallows it down, leaning back to put it down on the counter, letting go with his mouth. 

“Oh, look at that,” Hyungwon says.

Changkyun winces just a little at the burn, before smiling, looking at Kihyun and saying, “Thanks for the blow job, Kihyun.”

 _Because why the fuck not_. 

Kihyun huffs a laugh and then raises an eyebrow. “There’s something,” he says, points at the corner of his own lips. You better clean it, it’s white.”

Changkyun flushes-- _oh boy_ \--and sticks out his tongue to clean the corner of his mouth. “Is it gone?”

“Yep,” Kihyun laughs, glances at Hyungwon, _who doesn’t drink it the way he’s supposed to_ and instead picks it up with his hands and downs it. “Handsy, handsy, Hyungwon.”

“Handjob,” Changkyun laughs. 

Kihyun rolls his eyes and leans down to pick up his glass with his lips and throw it back when he straightens up. He takes it into his hand, then, and grabs the other glasses, turns to put them away.

_… That was kind of hot._

“You just gave yourself a blowjob,” Changkyun says, tries not to laugh. “Impressive.”

“Marilyn Manson did it, too,” Hyungwon nods. 

Kihyun looks back at them over his shoulder and raises an eyebrow. “See? And I didn’t have to remove two of my ribs for that. Flexibility, flexibility.”

“He removed his ribs?!” Changkyun gapes. “To give himself a blow job?! Are you for real right now?”

Hyungwon blinks. “What… you didn’t know?”

“No!” Changkyun squeaks, laughs. “No, I didn’t know that! I’m innocent!”

Kihyun blinks very slowly. “You. Innocent?”

“So innocent,” Hyungwon starts, “That the image of you touching yourself on stage will be in all of our minds for a long while. If only you got rich for making it into people’s fantasies, too.”

“I can’t copyright people’s thoughts,” Changkyun says, still flushing, but raises an eyebrow. “All of _our_? I’m flattered, Hyungwon.”

Hyungwon scoffs. “We’re all human, Changkyun. All human.”

Changkyun feels someone tap over his shoulder and, when he looks over, sees a group of girls looking at him all expectantly, Hoseok right behind them but looking away.

“Oh, hello,” Changkyun smiles at them, turning in his chair. 

Hyungwon turns to look, sees Hoseok, looks at Changkyun and then turns front again. “Oh, well. Here we go.”

Changkyun glances at Hyungwon with a small frown, before it dawns on him just as the girls ask it.

“We all joined enough,” two of them say as they flash the money in front of Changkyun’s eyes, “For you two!”

Changkyun tries not to swallow. Right. Jooheon had mentioned this was a thing. Everyone knows it’s a thing. It’s something he’s seen Hyunwoo and Minhyuk do, but… But shit… _shit_ , that’s a lot of money. He could finish paying off the rest of his debt with that money. He can pay rent with that money. Because this isn’t going into a private booth, this is enough for it to be on stage. In front of everyone. Joy.

“Here,” Kihyun mutters, places another shot next to Changkyun and turns to walk towards Jooheon’s side of the bar.

Changkyun quickly takes the shot and the money, pushing it into his back pocket as he smiles at the girls, winking. They all giggle, so Changkyun just gets up and moves to Hoseok, gives him a small, reassuring smile (for him or for Hoseok? He’s not sure) and takes his hand, starts leading him to the stage.

It’s all just for show. And while Changkyun is completely fine dancing and stripping, this just… doesn’t feel right. It’s not who he is, and the way those girls squeal the moment Hoseok moves the chair to the middle of the stage, backrest to the side and sits down, pulling Changkyun to sit on top of him, straddling his lap, makes his stomach turn.

This isn’t his body they’re appreciating, this isn’t lonely people wanting the touch of someone, this is just… His sexuality being used for entertainment. Something personal. Or, well, it should be.

So Changkyun just does it to get it over with, leans in and kisses Hoseok on the lips as the girls start screaming. 

It’s not like it’s not… _nice_ , to kiss someone this pretty, but there’s a lot of stuff to it Changkyun has to exaggerate because he doesn’t _like_ Hoseok. Because the point of all this is so that the audience believes it. Believes _this_ , believes it’s wanted and not just paying for what they receive.

It just feels so _wrong_ , in the way stripping doesn’t. But Changkyun just kisses Hoseok, grips at his arms, grinds down on him and Hoseok plays along, squeezing Changkyun’s ass and licking into his mouth.

At least Changkyun can keep his eyes closed for this.

Three songs come and go and Changkyun leans back, a little out of breath and the girls applaud and whoop. He looks at Hoseok, looks down between them and he has to smile, because neither of them are even remotely hard right now.

That’s… telling.

  
  


\---  


Changkyun is _busy_. But at least there are no more make-outs. Hyunwoo and Minhyuk make out, though, but that’s entirely different. They do it really fucking well, because of course they would.

Changkyun makes more money in one Ladies Night than five average nights, so it’s okay if he’s busy, but it also means that the next time he sees Jooheon and Kihyun, it’s closing time and they’re… not sober. Honestly, Changkyun can’t even blame them.

“Did’ya even hear her, though?” Jooheon asks, throws the keys up and then fails to catch them. “Shit… Where… Ki, I lost, I lost the keys.”

“What…” Kihyun mutters from where he is, forehead pressed against the wall. “It’s fine, call for them. Bshhh, bshhh, bhsss, keeeys…”

Changkyun laughs, lifting the part of the counter where they move in and out, and bends to pick the keys up for them. 

“Are you two high _and_ drunk right now?” Changkyun laughs, holding up the keys. “I am so fucking jealous.”

“Wheeeeere aaaare the keeeeys, though,” Jooheon squints at everything but Changkyun.

Kihyun points at Changkyun, almost takes his eye out, but doesn’t look at him. “You were busy. We got busy. God, I’m so glad, so glad we don’t work tomorrow.”

Jooheon turns around and then again, and again. “I think… someone stole our keys.”

“For God’s sake,” Changkyun laughs, shoving the keys against Jooheon’s chest. “Here. Come on, let’s go home before you two pass out here.”

Jooheon looks at the keys and gasps. “Oh, look. They came back to me!” He looks at Kihyun. “Also, you didn’t answer my question.”

Kihyun pushes away from the wall and turns to grab his jacket, starts dressing it the other way around, back to the front, front to the back, “What was the question?”

“Did’ya hear her? She called him William.”

“William,” Kihyun repeats, frowns when he reaches down to zip his jacket but doesn’t find a zip--it’s on his back. “William… Will I am. Past tense would be Wouldiwas.”

“Oh my god,” Changkyun laughs. “Wouldiwas Shookspeare.”

Kihyun turns to gape at Changkyun, “You’re a genius!”

Changkyun makes the motion as if flipping hair over his shoulder. “I know right.”

All the lights go off, without any warning whatsoever. 

“The apocalypse lies ahead!” Jooheon calls from the back. “Darkness descends!”

Changkyun squints. “I can’t see shit, Jooheon!”

“I know this place like the back of my--my, er, foot. Hand! Back of my hand!”

“I don’t!” Changkyun whines.

“Shhhhhhh,” Kihyun says, gets closer and puts his finger over Changkyun’s lips. “It’s the demogorgon…” he whispers, starts looking to one side and then the other.

Changkyun blinks, tries not to blush. _Why is this finger here!_ “The… what now?”

“Shhhhh!” Kihyun hushes, presses his finger even more against Changkyun’s lips, head lowering to Changkyun’s chest. “Shhh… It eats people…”

“You’re so drunk,” Changkyun whispers, laughing softly and reaching out to hold Kihyun steady by the arms.

“M’not. M’fine,” Kihyun mumbles, hand dropping, finger pulling Changkyun’s bottom lip down when it falls. “Jooheon, we gotta go.”

“Gooooooing,” Jooheon whispers loudly, passes by and pokes Changkyun’s side.

Changkyun turns around, bends a little. “Come on, get up.”

“I’m not riding you,” Kihyun snorts.

Jooheon opens the front door and groans. “Noooo! Sunlight! I’m dying! Melting!” he dramatizes as he does pretend to melt to the ground.

Changkyun scoffs, straightening up. “I thought you were the vampire, Ki.”

Kihyun almost walks into a table and frowns at it. “I bit him. It’s contagious.”

“So...” Changkyun grins. “If I wanna be a vampire, you need to bite me?” 

“Yes,” Kihyun says, walks towards the entrance and kicks lightly at Jooheon to get out of the way. “Shit, you’re right,” Kihyun mutters, squints. “Daylight hurts.”

“Do you two always get drunk on Ladies Night?” Changkyun scoffs, closing the door behind them and taking the keys from Jooheon to lock up. He’s a bit busy being dead on the floor.

Kihyun glances over, eyes just slits. “It’s literally the worst night ever. Because everything is nearly free so we get paid less. Only you guys benefit from this, really. Well, and the bar. But…”

“Yeah,” Changkyun sighs. “I made a stupid amount of money. Girls are… Well… _Something_.”

“An acquired taste?” Kihyun asks and then snorts.

Changkyun rolls his eyes, smiling. “Why, because I’m gay?”

Jooheon straightens up and squints at Changkyun. “You are? Shit. Had no idea…”

“That’s fine, apparently I have ‘bi vibes’ so I don’t blame you.”

“Totally thought you were something like that, yes,” Jooheon nods.

“Well, if I could fool you guys without trying, then the girls must have had a ball,” Changkyun smiles, reaches out a hand for Kihyun’s arm again. For his own state of mind, really. 

The walk home is rather quiet. Kihyun seems busy trying to count how many steps it takes him to reach his bed and Jooheon is humming a song all to himself as he walks ahead.

When they get home, though, just a little closer to 7AM, Jooheon walks in, after Changkyun opens the door for them, and turns around points at Kihyun and sings (more like screams), _“So I, waaaait for you to caaaall and I try to act natural, have you been thinking ‘bout heeeroooraboooooutmeeee?”_ while raising a hand like he’s trying to grab at thin air but backtracking towards the bathroom.

Kihyun (jacket still the wrong way around) rushes (almost trips) to the doorway of the living room and grabs onto it while trying to reach for Jooheon’s hand and sings (a bit strained but in tune), _“And while I wait, I put on my perfume, yeah I want it all over youuu. I’m gonna mark my territoryyy!”_

And Jooheon goes, “Ahooooooo!” and spins into the bathroom, almost trips on the toilet.

“Ki--” Changkyun laughs between his words. “Kihyun, come here, your jacket--”

 _“I never tell!”_ Kihyun sings with a groan and falls to the floor, like the house is turning and gravity just shifted, keeps pulling him to the bathroom. _“Tell on myseeelf but I hope she smells my perfuuume!”_

“What am I going to do with you,” Changkyun mumbles to himself, smiling down at Kihyun.

Jooheon sits on the floor in the middle of the bathroom and sings, _“I wanna fill the room, when she’s in it with youuu!”_

Kihyun turns, back down, laughs, and says, “Kinky. How big are you, really?”

“Pay me and I’ll strip.”

Gucci and Yoshi rush by and start rubbing on Kihyun’s face, so he just scrunches his nose and closes his eyes. “I’m… being attacked by _floff_.”

“They’re marking their territory, Britney,” Changkyun laughs, shaking his head. _These two..._

“You can tell?” Kihyun laughs, reaches up to rub his hands on his chest. “‘Cause of these babies.”

“What babies?” Jooheon asks, perking up. “Wait. Right. I remembered, gotta take a piss. See you in a hundred years, fellow vampires,” he says as he closes the door to the bathroom with a foot but doesn’t make to get up.

“He’s going to try and piss from the floor, isn’t he?” Changkyun asks, eyes on the bathroom door.

Kihyun laughs, it kind of sounds like a giggle. “Yeeeep.”

“Honestly, I hope he pulls it off,” Changkyun smiles, looks back down and Kihyun is just… so very cute, all pink faced, hair messy, jacket the wrong fucking way around. “Can I pay you to strip, too?” Changkyun teases, leans down to pinch the material of the jacket before letting go.

“Depends,” Kihyun says, sniffles and squints at Changkyun. “What are you paying me with?”

Changkyun raises an eyebrow. This… was a joke, but… “Which currencies do you operate in, Mr. Vampire?”

“Blood,” Kihyun says very seriously before barking a laugh and turning on his side. “Gross.”

Changkyun hears Jooheon peeing. “Oh god,” Changkyun laughs. “I think he did it.”

“I did it!”

“He really did it,” Changkyun laughs, smirks and bends down, rolling Kihyun onto his front. “This bothers me _so much_ ,” Changkyun laughs as he unzips the jacket.

“It was _worm,”_ Kihyun mutters to the floor. “Now it’s cold.”

“Yeah, yeah, just a minute,” Changkyun chuckles, gets one arm out and rolls him back for the other. Changkyun walks to stand behind him, pushing his arms in under Kihyun’s to lift him up.

“Jooooo! I’m being handled!” Kihyun whines.

“Good!” Jooheon shouts back. “Enjoy it, it’s free!”

“I wouldn’t pay to be handled,” Kihyun mutters.

“I’m taking you to bed, Kihyun,” Changkyun scoffs and Jooheon gives a loud, obnoxious wolf whistle from the bathroom.

Kihyun leans forward but then falls onto his side again. “I’m fine here. Joo, we sleep on the floor today.”

“Which floor?” Jooheon asks.

Kihyun hums. “We gotta, gotta rotate. Or the other floors get jealous.”

“Next time, I’m getting drunk _with_ you guys,” Changkyun rolls his eyes, throws Kihyun’s jacket over him like a blanket. “I feel excluded, and horribly sober.”

“You can join,” Kihyun says, smiles a little when he says it and wobbles from one side to the other like a baby crib rocking left and right.

“What, join you on the floor?” Changkyun asks, eyebrow raised, amused.

Kihyun gestures vaguely. “It’s a big floor.”

Changkyun rolls his eyes and shrugs, smiling. “Alright,” he says, sitting down next to Kihyun. “You’re hogging the jacket blanket.”

Kihyun turns on his side and lifts the jacket a little. “Well?”

Yeah, Changkyun didn’t really think this through, did he? 

He scoots closer and lies down on his back, drapes a single sleeve over himself. “Wow,” he deadpans. “Comfy. Sell the beds, people, we don’t need ‘em.”

Kihyun folds an arm under his head and narrows his eyes at Changkyun. “Think we can… turn this place into a hotel?”

“Mmm, it’s a bit small,” Changkyun smiles, turns his head to look at Kihyun. “But we can pack ‘em in like sardines.”

Kihyun makes a face. “Ew… fish.” He smacks his lips and gags a little. “God, I’m tasting it… make it stop!”

Changkyun laughs. “Er… KFC! Fried chicken, just a bunch of chicken.”

Kihyun pauses and sort of munches on air. “Hm… much better. Shit, I’m so hungry…”

Changkyun pouts, amused. “There’s food here... I can make you something if you want?”

Kihyun lifts his chin up a little, eyes closed as he moans. “Hmmm, food…”

Changkyun blinks at Kihyun’s face. _Yikes_ . Changkyun’s mouth is _dry_.

The door to the bathroom slams open. “Did someone say food?” Jooheon blinks down at them and frowns, gasps. “Oh god, you’re procreating!”

“Yep,” Changkyun says. “We’re dividing. Like cells.”

“Mitosis,” Kihyun snorts. “Wheeee…”

“You lisp more when you’re drunk,” Changkyun laughs. “Mitothith.”

Kihyun frowns and sticks his tongue out. “My tongue does things without my permission…”

“That’s a sentence right there,” Jooheon laughs.

Changkyun giggles, smacks a hand over his blushing face.

Jooheon walks over and bends down to pick up Kihyun’s ankle, lift it up and pull. He pulls Kihyun down the hall and into the bedroom and Kihyun just lazily tries to reach for Changkyun but fails.

 _Cute_ …

Again, Changkyun smacks himself. 

_No crushing on the bartender, Changkyun_. Nobody dates strippers.

  
  


\---  


Changkyun sleeps longer than usual, because he _can_ , dammit. 

It’s his second Sunday waking up here, and it’s not like he expects Kihyun and Jooheon to chase him out of the house, but it still feels very surreal how little he’s been to his own place. Changkyun really likes it here, though. Only two weeks and he feels like they really could be friends. Family. He hopes they are...

“Good morning,” Jooheon mutters as he walks into the living room just when Changkyun sits down on the (finally whole) couch, two cats following in and ogling Jooheon’s cereal.

Changkyun reaches over to pick up one of them--he can never tell which one is which--and puts her on his lap, scratching under her chin. Double the cute, though.

“Sleep well?” Changkyun asks, heart warming when the kitten curls up all content on his lap.

Jooheon sits down and picks up the spoon to smash at the cereal. “Like a rock… Kihyun said I snored…”

Changkyun rolls his eyes. “Of course he did,” Changkyun smiles, hand smoothing over the kitten’s fur. “Is he still sleeping?”

“Ya think?” Jooheon scoffs. “No. He’s in bed, on his phone, watching YouTube videos. Woke me up…”

Changkyun glances to the bedroom door and smiles. “You feeling hungover?”

“Just a bit…” Jooheon shrugs, lifts the spoon into his mouth. “We were more high than drunk. There was a bong… hits harder, _faster.”_ He pauses. “Well, yes. I said what I said.”

Changkyun laughs, looks over and blinks. Blinks some more. No way he’s seeing that right.

“Er. Jooheon, is that a hickey?”

Jooheon pauses and frowns. “What…?”

Changkyun reaches over and pokes at his neck, at the purplish, mouth sized bruise. “Hickey.”

“Ow, ow, ow!” Jooheon climbs onto the couch, hugs the bowl of cereal. “The fuck?”

Changkyun laughs. “Wuss.”

Jooheon blinks and then frowns, turns fast to glare at the bedroom. “Yoo Kihyun!”

“Yeeeeesss?” Kihyun says back.

“What the fuck, man!”

“What did I do?!”

“It fucking hurts!”

“Wha--” Kihyun opens the door and peeks out, frowning, and Changkyun looks away. “What are you on about?”

Jooheon turns to point at his neck and Kihyun frowns some more and walks closer to squint. “It hurts,” Jooheon says.

“Oh…” Kihyun blinks. “Whoops. I don’t remember that. You sure you didn’t do that yourself?”

“Ah, yes,” Jooheon complains, “I totally--you know, my lips just sorta _grow_ and fly all the way to my neck-- _What the fuck.”_

Kihyun snorts and rolls his eyes. “I’ll get you ice,” he says as he turns to walk to the kitchen

Changkyun just keeps frowning at the cat in his lap, ignores the stupid (and stupidly strong) feeling in his stomach. “I thought.. You said you weren’t together?” Changkyun asks, voice small.

Jooheon turns to look at Changkyun and frowns. “We’re not…” Jooheon sighs and rubs at his neck. “It’s not like that, don’t sweat it.”

“Why would I sweat it,” Changkyun mumbles, eyes on the kitten.

Jooheon side glances at Changkyun and slowly takes a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. “Mhm…” Jooheon hums, munches, slowly, too. 

Changkyun scratches the kitten’s head, biting at his lip. Why the hell does this upset him so much? It’s just a crush, Kihyun can do whatever he wants.

“We’re not friends with benefits, if that’s what you’re thinking…” Jooheon mutters. “It’s just…”

“Not my business what you are.”

Jooheon rolls his eyes. “Can’t I just fucking share? _Jesus…_ Lemme make it your business.”

Changkyun sinks a little into the couch. “Yeah, sorry, go ahead.” 

Jooheon points to the kitchen. “He hasn’t dated anyone in like… five years. I haven’t dated anyone in way longer, I’ve forgotten. We’re friends. Without benefits. But sometimes shit happens. And by ‘shit’ I mean… smooches. Just that bitch be wilding sometimes…”

Changkyun laughs softly. “Wild smooches. Sounds great.”

“I like smooches. It just so happens we were high once and it happened and since then it’s like… if we’re all lonely or whatever? It works. But that’s all.”

“I like smooches too, under the right circumstances.” Definitely not the paid-for-smooches.

“I mean,” Jooheon stuffs his mouth, “In case it’s not painfully obvious, I have a major crush on Lee Minhyuk. Which will get me nowhere, so… Don’t judge me for feeling lonely and in need of human touch.”

“Who’s in need of human touch?” Kihyun asks as he walks in, hands Jooheon a towel that most likely has a bag of ice inside.

Changkyun rolls his eyes, looks at Jooheon. “I wasn’t judging you…” 

Kihyun frowns and then raises an eyebrow as he looks between the two of them. He stops on Changkyun, though. “Hey, you hungry?”

“Starving,” Changkyun smiles widely up at Kihyun. _Stupid crush, looking cute in the mornings. Stupid boxers._

Kihyun blinks and smiles back, hair all fluffy. “Want french toast?”

Jooheon gasps and looks up. “The betrayal!”

“You’re served,” Kihyun scoffs, gestures at Jooheon’s bowl. There are kittens on it.

“Oh my god, _yes_ ,” Changkyun whines. “Can I help?”

Kihyun grins and wiggles his eyebrows. “Wanna whisk?”

“Fuck yeah,” Changkyun says, picking up the kitten on his lap and putting her on the couch before standing up. “I’ll whisk so well you’ll _whisk_ I’m always here.”

Kihyun laughs, gives a run to the kitchen on his tiptoes and then opens the fridge to bring out the eggs. He’s only wearing a baggy shirt over his boxers so, unfortunately (or not, perspective) the shirt lifts when he bends over.

Changkyun swallows and looks away. _Just a crush, just a crush_...

Kihyun brings out the butter and milk and hands it to Changkyun, along with the eggs. “I’ll give you a bowl so you can mix the eggs and milk.... Are you alright…?”

“Hmm?” Changkyun whips his eyes up to Kihyun’s, blinking. “Yes! Yeah, I’m fine, sorry,” Changkyun laughs a little nervously, moves to a counter to break the eggs into the bowl Kihyun places in front of him. 

“You’ve clearly never watched Stranger Things, have you?” Kihyun asks as he cuts the bread.

“Is… that a movie…?”

Kihyun opens his mouth to gape at the bread but there’s a smile peeking out, too. “Oh no… We’re gonna binge watch today…”

Changkyun laughs softly, adds a splash of milk to the eggs. “That good, huh?”

“The best shit ever.”

“Wooooow, the highest of praise,” Changkyun says, whistles lowly. “Yeah, let’s binge it, then, I’m in a sitting down with fluffy blankets mood.”

“That sounds like date night,” Kihyun scoffs.

“Isn’t date night going out for dinner and a movie and stuff? That’s what they always do in the movies.”

“I am going to say ‘no’ and you’ll know why I’ve been single for so long.”

“Nah, I don’t see it,” Changkyun smiles, starts whisking the eggs. “Sounds like a great date to me.”

Kihyun shrugs, cuts one final slice of bread and packs the rest. “I like being home. Especially because I spend so much time out. Then, the only days I have to actually _stay_ home all day are Wednesday and Sunday. Normal people work on Wednesdays. And I’m usually always lazy when I have days off… so…” He picks up the cinnamon and hands it over, crosses his arms and turns to Changkyun, hip against the counter. “Not the best combo… I suppose.”

Changkyun smiles, looks down to his eggs. “Still doesn’t make sense to me,” Changkyun teases, holding the bowl out. “Whisked.”

Kihyun glances up at Changkyun’s face for a moment before looking at the eggs and smiling with the corner of his lips. “Well done,” Kihyun says, takes the bowl and places it next to the bread. “There’s a frying pan in the cupboard right next to you, could you--”

“Yeah, hang on,” Changkyun says, finds it and puts it down on the plate Kihyun turned on. “Ooh, do we still have bacon? Bacon’s the best with french toast.”

“Yeah, it’s in the fridge.”

“Booyah,” Changkyun whoops, gets the bacon and grins wide, wiggling it in front of Kihyun’s face. “Ermehgerd berken.”

Kihyun smiles and snorts a laugh, takes the bacon from Changkyun’s hand and turns to the stove. “You’re cute…”

Changkyun smiles, feels a small tug at his chest as he leans back against the counter. “I am?”

Kihyun shrugs, moves the frying pan to the stove and reaches for the butter. “Overall, yes. When you’re not at work or… working.”

“True,” Changkyun chirps. “Nobody wants a cute stripper.”

“I would…” Kihyun says and then blinks. “Pretend you never heard that.”

Changkyun laughs. “Ah, sorry, it’s absolutely ingrained into my brain now, along with Jooheon’s _impressive_ hickey.”

“I _don’t_ remember doing that,” Kihyun snorts.

“Still did it, though,” Changkyun sing-songs. 

Kihyun licks his lips. “Then he can flaunt it at Minhyuk. And maybe avoid saying it was me…”

Changkyun pouts. “Nooo, Jooheony really likes Minnie… Makes me sad…” Changkyun scoffs. “Yeah, definitely a romantic.”

“Makes me sad, too,” Kihyun mutters. “You might not realize it but you guys sorta seem… out of reach. Nevermind what people say, because there’s also that… You’re like--” Kihyun glances up and raises a hand to measure over his head.

Changkyun frowns, scoffs. “That’s stupid…”

“Obviously,” Kihyun smiles a little. “But it’s like… the shit you’d do or try to do, like… hell, whatever goes between seduction and all that, it’s what you guys do for a living. So… the rest of us are sort of left wondering what to do differently to catch your eye. Not that--” Kihyun laughs. “Not that we don’t know it’s stupid. But it’s… different. Especially for people like Jooheon, who are more about the subtleness of it all and not the blunt ‘let’s go on a date, I’m into you’ thing.”

Changkyun looks down, scratches at the back of his neck. “So… Not only do people not want to date strippers, they also think we’re unreachable even if they do.”

“Sort of, yes,” Kihyun mutters. “I mean, I get it,” he says, scoots closer and picks up a slice of bread to dip it into the mix. “I get it. The whole ‘ah, what should I do differently’, y’know? But… I’d still go for it, if I wanted to. Jooheon is not like that, though.”

“Yeah, I get that, too,” Changkyun smiles, huffs a small breath. “So you wouldn’t mind dating a stripper, then?”

_Why… are you… asking..._

Kihyun pauses, actually seems to contemplate the question for a moment. He moves the slice of bread to the frying pan, butter already bubbling, and puts it down. “It would take work,” he says. “I’d have to work on myself a lot, better myself and stop stupid, rash decisions based on some possessive sort of feeling but… Yeah, I wouldn’t mind.”

Again, that tug in Changkyun's chest. “I… Think it would be nice to feel wanted in a different way than I do every night,” Changkyun says softly. “If that makes sense…”

“It does,” Kihyun says, opens a drawer nearby and takes out the spatula. “Besides, objectively, it’s different to be with someone who pays you to be with them and be with someone you want to be with.”

“If only that paid the bills,” Changkyun smiles, sniffs.

“I’d be so broke,” Kihyun laughs and shakes his head.

Changkyun laughs, too. “Oh shut up, I’d pay good money to make french toast with you.” _Yeah? How much to shut the fuck up._

Kihyun bites at his upper lip and flips the toast. “I suppose there are worse ways to make money…”

“He says,” Changkyun laughs. “To the stripper.”

Kihyun glances over. “You’d be surprised. I actually respect you lot more than you’d think.”

Changkyun frowns. “You do? Why?”

Kihyun shrugs. “It’s a job. Right?”

“Right…”

“Some of the best people I’ve ever met happened to be strippers. And I’ve met doctors of all kinds, medical, lawyers, whatever, whatever, who were shit people. Your job doesn’t define what kind of person you are on the inside. As long as you like what you’re doing, I’m totally okay with people doing whatever the fuck they want. And if I’m not, well… None of my goddamn business.”

Changkyun smiles, bites at his bottom lip. “I can literally hear how mad you are at people who think otherwise… I fucking love it.”

“Good,” Kihyun scoffs, takes the toast into a plate. It’s all golden and pretty. “If anyone gives you shit? Send them my way.”

“I hold the arms and you kick ‘em in the sensitive bits?”

“All the sensitive bits.”

  
  


\---  


Thursdays are fine. Nothing happens on Thursdays. Usually, it’s just the occasional client, a few people who come for drinks but spend no money, and one or another richass man who wants a booth show.

Still enough people to keep everyone sort of busy, though. Especially because a lot of them ask for food in large groups, which means both Kihyun and Jooheon have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen together to bring it all out more or less at the same time.

Hyungwon doesn’t work on Thursdays, so the music is just a playlist Sunmi made for them to shuffle whenever there is no one at the mixer. It’s chill and not too loud, even if most of it is techno.

There’s a man who’s actually reading a newspaper as he sits by the bar, who only looks up to ask for more Bourbon, and only after the third one does he loosen his tie a little and sit back in the chair.

His glass is empty, so he looks up and raises a hand to call Kihyun, smiling politely. “Another round, please.” So, another filling Kihyun pours. “Thank you,” the man says, turns a page of his newspaper. _Newspaper, though…_ The man looks in his early forties, but _still_. He looks around, then, though. “May I ask you something?”

Kihyun closes the bottle and puts it down, blinks. “Of course.”

“All of the people who work here are gorgeous, obviously, including yourself,” the man smiles. “But of the… dancers. Which one is the youngest?”

Kihyun blinks again. “Uhm…” _O...kay?_ “Not sure. But I can tell you who’s the newest.” _No, I can’t. What the fuck kinda question was that?_

“Oh, that’s fine, too,” the man says cheerfully. 

Kihyun takes a small breath. He looks around the bar for Minhyuk--the only one capable of breaking heads without hesitation who actually looks the youngest--but doesn’t find him. _Goddamn it._ “I.M. I can go get him, if you need.”

The man shakes his head with a smile, “That’s alright, I can wait,” he says, and looks back down to his newspaper.

Kihyun smiles and turns to grab a few clean glasses and put them in place, ready to be used. He glances around the bar, still doesn’t find Minhyuk but finds Changkyun talking to someone by one of the tables.

Casually, Kihyun flips a glass and scoops some ice into, pours the Bourbon in and takes a sip. When Jooheon walks out of the kitchen, though, Kihyun grabs his arm.

“Hey,” Kihyun mutters, “That guy over there--don’t look--the one with the newspaper. He’s going to go for Kyun. Keep an eye on them if I’m not around.”

Jooheon frowns, jaw going a little tense. “Will do…” He glances up, sees Changkyun and nods. “Lemme go make sure the cameras are all working.”

“Thanks,” Kihyun mutters, turns to his drink and looks down at it. Bourbon is such a weird thing to binge drink, really. How come that guy is already past three cups?

Kihyun finishes his drink anyway, a few sips here and there, between serving a group of older women who take one of the booths next to where Hyunwoo is dancing.

 _Did Minhyuk even come today?_ Now that Kihyun thinks about it, he doesn’t remember seeing him around.

Jooheon comes back from the back room, nods to Kihyun as if to say ‘it’s all good’, before glancing at the man and moving to rub down the counter closeby. 

Changkyun looks a little put out, though, walking away from the table to the bar. Sometimes, fish just don’t bite, no matter how much one bais them. Still, Kihyun wishes Changkyun would just _swim_ anywhere else.

The man looks over his newspaper, looking Changkyun up and down before setting the newspaper down and drinking the last of his Bourbon. Changkyun sees him looking and smiles, because that’s his job. To make people like that feel wanted. 

Changkyun moves closer, leaning against the counter and into the man’s personal bubble, and Kihyun hears him laugh. It’s not his real laugh, Kihyun knows that. The man leans in and whispers something in Changkyun’s ear. A moment later, Changkyun is walking to one of the private booths with the man in tow. 

Kihyun just frowns and glances at Jooheon. Because the shitty bit is that they are actually allowed to disclose that kind of information, ‘who’s the youngest’ or ‘who’s the oldest’. Even if, to Kihyun, that sounds entirely fucked up.

If Minhyuk was here, he would take the offer without even blinking. He’s done it before and he knows when not to contest what people assume him to be. He is the most experienced one and also the one who gives less shits--probably has something to do with experience.

But he’s not here.

So, it’s Changkyun behind those curtains. And Kihyun staring at them from the bar. 

He’s still staring when he hears Changkyun cry out, a loud, “Get off of me!” before he’s rushing out of the booth, practically naked and directly towards the bathroom.

Jooheon puts the cloth down and moves first--Kihyun always freezes in moments like these, heart dropping to his stomach. Jooheon gives a little run towards the booth as Hoseok straightens up and gets off the table he was sitting on, obviously a little on edge.

When rationality kicks in, Kihyun rushes to the bathroom instead.

He doesn’t have to knock but he does. Still, he doesn’t wait and just pushes the door open, peeks into the first stall. “Hey, Kyun?” _Nothing._ “It’s Kihyun. Are you okay?” Kihyun walks towards the sound of running water and sees Changkyun’s reflection in the mirror just before cutting left. When he does, though, he stops and just stares.

“I’m fine,” Changkyun says, voice shaky, splashing his face and his chest with water. His eyes look red, shiny.

“Did he hurt you…?” Kihyun asks, frowns a little.

Changkyun sniffs and splashes his face again but keeps his hands there, obviously crying. 

Kihyun looks aside and sighs softly before walking over as he untucks his t-shirt and pulls it over his head. “Put this on,” he says.

Changkyun looks up to the mirror and to Kihyun’s reflection, eyes on the t-shirt before he turns around, hiccuping. “Did I get everything..?”

Kihyun frowns. “What…?”

Changkyun takes a sharp breath, turns again, hands back on the sink. “Cum. Is there any cum on me.”

Kihyun opens his mouth and then makes a face, looks at Changkyun and shakes his head. “No, I don’t think so… Please, put this on. I have a bag with emergency clothing in my locker so don’t worry about it. And we have a shower at the back…”

Changkyun nods, takes the t-shirt, sniffs. “Thank you…”

“Hey,” Kihyun says as he tries to meet Changkyun’s eye. “You know we can ban people, right…? Under certain offenses, we’re allowed to ban people...”

“Good,” Changkyun swallows, pulls the t-shirt over his head and takes a breath. “Ban him.”

Kihyun nods and looks aside. “I’m sorry… I--” _Shouldn’t have…_ “Yeah, we’ll… We’ll talk to Sunmi. Come on,” Kihyun says, raises his hand for Changkyun to take it if he wants to.

“Just a minute,” Changkyun says softly, moves to sit down, back against the wall, hands rubbing at his eyes. 

“Don’t worry about that, I’m taking you home.”

Changkyun looks up at him, eyes big and tearing, bottom lip trembling before his whole face just crumbles as he cries, hanging his head. 

“Hey, hey,” Kihyun walks over, crouches and pulls Changkyun closer, hand at the back of his head to pull his face into the crook of his neck, and the poor boy is shaking like a leaf. “It’s okay. You’re okay… I’ll take you home and I’ll lend you the baggiest sweater I have. Is that okay with you?”

Changkyun nods against him, clinging to Kihyun. “That… That sounds nice… Thank you…”

“Don’t thank me,” Kihyun mutters, scratches his nails on Changkyun’s scalp and then leans away and takes his hand. “Come on, baby. I’ll get you some clothes.”

Changkyun looks between his eyes, expression just... entirely open, before he nods and lets Kihyun help him up, winces a little and wraps his hand around his wrist. “I’ll--I’ll be fine tomorrow, I promise…”

“You don’t have to be,” Kihyun says, tugs Changkyun along. And Changkyun smiles soft, sticking to Kihyun’s side and squeezing his hand. 

Kihyun takes Changkyun to the dressing room, gets a shirt for himself and goes to get Sunmi while Changkyun takes a shower. Kihyun says he’ll just take Changkyun home and come back but Sunmi says that it’s fine, his shift would end in a few hours, anyway.

On the way out, though, Changkyun in a big hoodie Kihyun lent him, Sunmi asks, “Do you want to press charges? If he did anything to you, we can.”

Changkyun shakes his head. “I just… never want to see him again…”

Sunmi nods, “Very well. I'll be looking into those tapes. Be well, alright?”

Changkyun smiles small and nods, reaches over shyly to hold at Kihyun’s arm, “Thank you.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Kihyun tells Sunmi, pulls his arm around Changkyun’s shoulders and walks him out.

It’s a nice night out, surprisingly. It’s always a nice night out when shit like this happens. Not even the lampposts are flickering. No demogorgon coming for them. It’s like the sky is a blanket, soothing them and willing them to forget.

“You know,” Changkyun says. “If I was Eleven, I’d have thrown him around like a rag doll…”

Kihyun scoffs a laugh and squeezes Changkyun a little. “Yeah? Honestly, sometimes I wish I could do that to some people.”

“Or just go full demogorgon and--” Changkyun puts his hand by his face and wiggles his fingers.

“That’s Joo. You’ve never heard him snore, have you? I swear, it’s the same.”

Changkyun laughs softly, leaning a little more into Kihyun as they walk. “I have heard it. Which really says something.”

Kihyun looks down and sighs. “I’m sorry, by the way…”

Changkyun frowns. “You didn’t do anything…”

“I know,” Kihyun mutters. “But when he asked me who was the youngest I sorta just… _knew_. I was hoping Minhyuk was around so I could label him as the newest, that’s usually what we do when it starts like this… but I forgot he wasn’t around. Which is shit, because I am actually supposed to let people know who is the youngest and the oldest if they ask--and… I’m sorry…”

“Hey,” Changkyun says, stops, holding to Kihyun’s arm to make him stop, too. “If it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else. And that would have been just as bad. You can’t help what these people do, it’s okay…”

Kihyun rolls his eyes. “I know that…” He sighs and pulls at Changkyun. “Come on.”

Changkyun follows, bumps his forehead against Kihyun’s shoulder. “Should I tell a joke?” Changkyun teases. 

“Do you have to?” Kihyun says, licks his lips and tries not to smile. “I mean… You’re obviously the joke. So…”

Changkyun gapes, smacks at Kihyun’s arm. “How _dare_ you, I was going to say that!”

Kihyun smiles and tilts his head to Changkyun, moves his finger between them just to say, “One neuron.”

Changkyun giggles. “Does it bounce between us or do we take turns?”

“I think we use half each?” Kihyun snorts. “It would explain a lot, actually…”

“Did you just call me dumb and call you dumb in the same breath? Spicy.”

“Would I do that?” Kihyun asks and then chuckles. “Yes, I would.”

“Ah, then I clearly have the better half of this neuron.”

“Obviously.”

  
  


\---  


When Changkyun had said he’s fine, he meant it. He is fine, and he will be fine. When he thinks about it, it makes him a little sick to his stomach, but he knows those tears were mostly just… shock. 

Because yes, this is a hazard of the job, people not knowing where the boundaries are, expecting things Changkyun would never give. Touching when they didn’t pay for it, but Changkyun knows how to handle that, just takes their hands away, makes them sit down... But this…

Changkyun didn’t notice the man undoing his pants. Men, in general, like to touch themselves while Chagkyun dances for them, and that’s fine, but… 

But Kihyun takes Changkyun home. Kihyun cracks a window open, turns the TV on but on mute so it lights up the living room, makes Changkyun hot chocolate and then sits next to him on the couch to prep things to make a joint. A joint that he lets Changkyun light.

At first, Changkyun had coughed his lungs out, and now it just soothes him, melting back into the couch. The sweater Kihyun had lent him feels so soft it makes him shiver, and he takes another drag.

“Is this new stuff? It tastes nice,” Changkyun says, holding the joint out for Kihyun.

“It’s lemony, right?” Kihyun asks, takes a long drag and puffs it in a thin line of smoke.

“Yeah, citrussy,” Changkyun scoffs. “But like, a good citrussy, not like--like dish soap.”

“Careful,” Kihyun chuckles, “It’s kinda strong. You might actually become Eleven and develop kinetic powers.”

Changkyun laughs. “Oh hell yeah, pass it back right now.”

Kihyun licks his lips and hands it over. “Your number is totally seven, though…”

“What? Why?”

Kihyun shrugs, brings his legs up and crosses them over the couch. “Some voodoo lady once told me that if you encounter the number seven too much, it means that positive things are flowing freely towards you. It’s some godly shit,” Kihyun frowns and gestures, “God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, also symbolizes unity and the--” Kihyun snorts, “Holy Trinity.”

“The only Holy Trinity I believe in is weed, sex, and a good story.”

“Ever had sex while high? ‘Cause _that’s_ a story.”

“Haven’t had sex since we met, and you were my first ‘bad influence’,” Changkyun laughs. “So, no.”

“I’m so sorry,” Kihyun laughs, “It’s contagious, this lack of sex thing.”

Changkyun giggles. “Oh, shut up, at least you get makeouts with Jooheon. He’s _pretty_ , like a lil dumpling.”

“You get make outs with one of the strippers every now and then.”

“Ugh,” Changkyun pulls a face. “Don’t remind me,” he says, taking another drag, actually coughs a bit this time. “Lime.”

“Lemons.”

“People used to call smut ‘lemon’.”

Kihyun makes a face at the TV, says nothing and then turns to make a face at Changkyun. “What the fuck…? Why?”

“I have no idea,” Changkyun laughs. “May--Maybe it’s like--You know that face you pull when you eat a lemon?”

“Why would I pull a face if the smut is good?”

“Nah, I mean that’s your, like, orgasm face,” Changkyun laughs and pulls a face before giggling. “Oh nooooo…”

“That--” Kihyun frowns, thinking, “Makes no sense. It’s not even the same face!”

“How would you know?” Changkyun asks, can’t stop smiling as he pokes Kihyun’s chest.

Kihyun frowns some more. “I’m speaking for myself here, I know what my orgasm face looks like. It’s not the same one when I eat lemons--although I like lemons…”

“Did you film yourself?” Changkyun gapes, mouth open wide

“No! Idiot,” Kihyun slaps at Changkyun’s thigh, who just keeps giggling. “It’s muscle memory! You can tell the difference!” He sighs and takes the joint. Changkyun stares at him a little, watches his lips around the joint before looking away, frowning.

“Why were we talking about lemons again?”

Kihyun leans his head back, holds the joint between his lips as he stretches his arms up and says, a little strained, “Something about smut.”

“Have you ever read smut?” Changkyun asks, holds his hand out for the joint.

Kihyun melts a little, takes a drag and passes it on. “Huh… Like, Fifty Shades?”

“Oh, gross, no,” Changkyun scowls, sitting back before taking a drag. “That man can’t even spell foreplay.”

“Who?” Kihyun blinks, turns his head a little to Changkyun.

“Mr. Shades,” Changkyun says and then giggles. 

Kihyun snorts. “Sorry, I didn’t read the books or watch the movies. My knowledge is limited.”

“We can watch it if you feel like mocking the ever-living shit out of something,” Changkyun laughs. “It’s soooo baaaad.”

Kihyun frowns. “You want me to watch straight sex?” He shrugs and reaches for the remote and the PS4 controller, “That would be a first…”

“Oh, god, he’s actually going to do it,” Changkyun laughs. 

“Is there a lot of naked man in it?”

“Er,” Changkyun scrunches his face, tries to remember. “I can’t… remember? I only watched it once for a bet. May have blacked it out like PTSD or something.”

The PS4 beeps when Kihyun turns it on and he switches the input to HDMI. He frowns a little and pouts, too, while he tries to search for Fifty Shades of something on Netflix.

“Why can I only find the…” Kihyun squints, “Fifty Shades Darker… Shit, did he tan or something?”

Changkyun barks a laugh, curling inwards. “Ma--maybe? I don’t know! Maybe they get involved with the mafia or some shit--darker could be a metaphor! _These are dark times, Harry_.”

Kihyun laughs and it's in a higher tone. It makes his voice crack a little. "God. We watch Harry Potter during Christmas break, when we have it, so get ready for that."

“I’ve never been this excited for Christmas,” Changkyun laughs. “You’re a Hufflepuff, I can see it.”

Kihyun clicks play even though it's the second movie and he hasn't watched the first, and then turns to gape at Changkyun. "What? Why would you think that?"

Changkyun pokes Kihyun’s head. “I’m a Ravenclaw, I’m _smort_.”

"Well, we did agree you had the smartest part of the neuron, so…"

“You don’t think you’re a Huffeleypuffeley?”

Kihyun narrows his eyes and then reaches for the joint, takes a drag and… puffs. "Yep. I am."

“Noice,” Changkyun says, barely glances at the TV. “You’re the number four.”

"Four what?"

“I’m seven, you’re four. Four is my lucky number.”

Kihyun leans his head back but keeps looking at Changkyun. "Why am I your lucky number…?"

Changkyun leans back, too, smacking his lips a little as he looks at Kihyun. “You’re… You. You could have been anyone else, but you’re not.”

Kihyun frowns a little for a moment. "I wanted to be Iron Man when I was younger…"

“Awww,” Changkyun smiles. “That’s cute… Why him?”

"Because… he doesn't have all the 'super' to hide behind. All that he has, he worked so fucking hard for… it was not by chance or some choice the universe made. And I find that so cool, that he gets to choose who he wants to be instead of letting the universe decide for him."

“Huh,” Changkyun muses, stares at the ceiling. The sounds coming from the TV make no sense. “That… makes sense why you like ‘im… Dunno who I’d wanna be…”

"Venom."

“Oh my god,” Changkyun says, eyes widening. “Oh my _god_ . _Yes_.” 

Kihyun grins and looks at the ceiling. "If you were Venom, I wouldn't mind being Eddie."

Changkyun melts and pouts. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

Kihyun laughs, takes a drag and puffs the smoke slowly. "That can't be it. You're all soft and cute, I'm sure people sweet talk you all the time."

“Naaaaah,” Changkyun says, waving a hand. “Nobody’s ever said they wanna inhabit the same mortal vessel as I, so, you win. But please feel free to keep calling me cute.”

Kihyun snorts. "Truths must be spoken."

“Okay, say that again, but this time, pretend you’re a wise oak tree. Or Gandalf.”

Kihyun pauses and then makes to stand up. He hands the joint over and then moves to stand in front of Changkyun, raises both arms and does a four with his legs. "Truuuuths muuuust beeee spooookeeen," Kihyun says in a deep voice, wobbles as he tries not to fall.

Changkyun collapses into a pile of giggles--he’s been giggling so much his face hurts a little. “You--You sound like Batman--” 

"Which one?" Kihyun laughs, falls forward but holds himself up, hands to the back of the couch. "I kinda liked Ben Affleck? He looked so fucking done."

“I want Edward Cullen Batman right fucking _now_ ,” Changkyun laughs, brain slowly catching up to how close Kihyun appears to be. _Objects in eyesight might be closer than they appear_.

"Think Kristen will play the Joker?"

“Micheal Sheen!” Changkyun declares, hand up as if to make a point, he can feel Kihyun's face. “I want Mike!”

"Eleven's voice from Stranger Things just sounded in my head."

Changkyun laughs, reaches out and pulls Kihyun onto the couch, into a hug. “You’re silly.”

"This is the most contrary situation I've ever been in, calling me names and hugging me," Kihyun snorts. For some reason, Changkyun only now notices Kihyun is straddling his lap.

“Silly isn’t a _name_ , it’s a compliment,” Changkyun insists, squeezing. Why does Kihyun smell so good, though? _Ugh._

"Being silly is a good thing, then?" Kihyun mumbles.

“Yeah,” Changkyun says, pushing Kihyun away a little to look at him. Because _fuck it,_ he’s great to look at. “You make me laugh. It’s nice.”

Kihyun looks all over Changkyun's face and then shrugs. "Maybe I'm the joke."

“Maybe we’re both just absolutely _hilarious_.”

Kihyun bites both lips in, clearly trying not to smile. But then he snorts a laugh and bumps his forehead against Changkyun's, giving Changkyun a small heart attack. 

_Kihyun entered the Kiss Zone!_ Alert! Abort! 

Changkyun tilts enough to throw Kihyun on the couch next to him, laughing. “There’s straight sex on the TV, Ki.” 

Kihyun turns to look at the TV and makes a face. "Oh. Wow. A man butt. Are those boobies--yep, boobs."

Changkyun giggles, pokes Kihyun’s chest. “Tiddies.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes and stretches both legs over Changkyun's lap. "I don't even try. I do push ups and they go pillowy. I could work on my legs and I'd get pectorals, I swear." Kihyun raises a hand and pretends he's reading a headline, "Squat for pectorals, by Yoo Kihyun!"

Changkyun laughs, hands falling over Kihyun’s legs. “See? Silly, silly, silly. The silliest.”

Kihyun smiles and watches the TV for a moment. After a while, he says, "She has a stalker."

“Yep,” Changkyun says, pops the ‘p’. “It’s fucked up. And yet, the straights eat it up with spooooons.”

"Can't talk shit about them because the majority of baby gays lost it over Call Me By Your Name."

“Whas’at?” Changkyun frowns. “Gay movie?”

"Yep. Kinda creepy… But that's my personal opinion. Of course, gay culture is full of older men tempting younger men so of course almost no one notices it…"

“I already don’t like it,” Changkyun says, sticking out his tongue, before leaning to the side, plopping down onto Kihyun, head to his chest. “Pillowy.”

Immediately, as if on instinct, Kihyun brings an arm around Changkyun for a moment before pushing fingers into Changkyun's hair to play with it. And Changkyun just melts, letting out a small breath and nuzzling into the warmth. 

Kihyun's breathing is slow and steady. And Changkyun can hear a loud heart against his ear. It’s just… so comforting. And when Kihyun speaks, it echoes inside his chest;

"Wanna go to bed?"

Changkyun nods a little against his chest, yawns as if his body is just responding to the idea of it. “Like this?”

Kihyun doesn't say anything for a while. But he keeps breathing slow and steady, heart beating just the same.

Moments later, he asks, "Do you wanna sleep like this?"

“Please,” Changkyun says softly, eyes closed, little shivers running down his spine with every touch to his hair.

"Okay…"

“It is?” Changkyun asks, lifting his head, chin to Kihyun’s chest.

Kihyun looks at him and then turns his head, combs Changkyun's hair back and says, "Yeah, baby, it's okay."

Back at the club, in the bathroom, Kihyun had called him that, and now again, and honestly? Changkyun doesn’t know what to think about it, just knows it makes him happy, and that’s okay, too. 

"Bed, then?" Kihyun asks.

Changkyun nods as he raises himself up, blinking when the world spins a little and giggles, licking his lips. “Which way is it,” Changkyun giggles.

Kihyun takes Changkyun's hand and their fingers lace together. "Dunno, let's find out."

Changkyun doesn’t stumble, but squeezes Kihyun’s hand nonetheless before he finds himself in Kihyun’s bedroom, falling face forward on the bed with a little, “Whee.”

"There you go again," Kihyun snorts, "Being cute."

“M’just meeeee,” Changkyun says, face squished into the sheets.

"Always cute, then," Kihyun says and Changkyun hears and feels him fall nearby.

“If you shay sho,” Changkyun mumbles, lifting his head and seeing Kihyun crawling over so Changkyun can put his head back where it belongs, dammit. _Pillowy chest._

He kicks blindly to get the sheets down enough to cover them but he doesn’t think much is happening, really, just kicking.

Kihyun snorts a laugh and sits up. Changkyun feels the covers being tugged and then the comfort of a blanket over him just as Kihyun leans back and pulls him close, Changkyun putting a leg over him to cling. It’s so _nice_ and warm and it smells good, too.

“Thanks for bringing me home, Kiki…”

"Anytime," Kihyun mumbles.

Changkyun smiles, brain mushy and everything he touches just feels extra soft, extra nice. 

“Joo got his bedroom back,” Changkyun mumbles, sleepy.

Kihyun turns his head and Changkyun feels the breath over his head when Kihyun says, "I'll let you break it to him tomorrow. Fight over me like high school teenies."

Changkyun giggles against, gives Kihyun a little squeeze. “It’s your choice, no need to fight. That’s something those movies always get wrong."

"True. I'd tell you to measure dicks but we both know who wins."

Changkyun barks a laugh, smacks lightly at Kihyun’s chest. “I always forget you’ve seen me naked.”

"I've seen you do many things in many ways that will haunt me until my andropause."

Changkyun scoffs. “ _Haunts_ … Charming."

"It's a fucking nightmare, Kyunie. Your giant dick chases me like a snake in my dreams."

Changkyun laughs so hard he wheezes, kicks and wiggles a little like that’ll help. “Noooo! That’s terrible!”

Kihyun laughs. "I know, shit, I can't unsee it…" 

“Stop picturing my dick!” Changkyun laughs, face going hotter by the second. 

"Stop talking about it! The more you do the more images I have popping up. It's a fucking porn site with no ad block in here!"

“Popping up,” Changkyun cackles. “Like those! Those computer things like--Avast, we have detected an erection!”

Kihyun snorts and then laughs. Half of it is silent but Changkyun can feel the shakes.

Changkyun lifts his head to look at him, smiling wide. “I swear, I haven’t laughed this much in ever.”

Kihyun licks his lips and snorts again. "Told you the weed was strong."

“Don’t give the weed all the credit,” Changkyun says, nuzzles in again as he yawns, closing his eyes. “Good night, Kiki.”

"Good night, Kyunie."

 _Kyunie…_ it's not 'baby', but Kihyun says it the same way, and in Changkyun’s chest, he feels it the same way, too.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If this is what falling in love with this boy feels like, then maybe Kihyun doesn’t mind if his heart ends up broken into tiny little pieces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now playing: [Kamikaze](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EhAZgddhj8) by WALK THE MOON.

“So,” Jooheon says all of a sudden as he crosses his arms over the counter. When did he get here? Who knows. Kihyun has been busy doing sums on a piece of paper that he’ll have to give to Sunmi. Bureaucracies, really. “You and Kyun?”

Kihyun glances between the numbers on his phone and then at the ones on the paper. “What about me and Kyun?”

Jooheon blinks slowly at him, on the edges of a smile. “I slept in my own bed last night, if you remember.”

“He got high, said he wanted to hug,” Kihyun mumbles. “Reminds me of someone I know.”

Jooheon narrows his eyes but smiles, shrugs and turns to continue his own work, which is just counting how many of which beers they have left. “If you say so~” he sings. “Difference is you don’t have the hots for me, even if you do go all cannibal on my neck.”

Kihyun pauses. “I don’t even _remember_ doing that,” he says, for the nth time, eyes wandering up to the club. Hyungwon is still setting up and Changkyun is chatting with Wonho by one of the tables. “What stupid event do we have today? I forgot...” Kihyun asks as he turns just enough to look over his shoulder at the small calendar on the wall. They had to come in way earlier but Kihyun can’t even remember why.

That is, until Sunmi walks in through the front door, followed by Hyunwoo and Minhyuk, all with a small palm tree in hand. _What the--oh! Tropical Night!_ Right. That explains the Malibu packages by the entrance this morning. And why Hoseok is wearing the smallest pair of red speedos Kihyun has seen in his whole entire life.

_Bleh._

“Did we even do this last year?” Kihyun asks, frowning. “It’s the first time, isn’t it?”

“Minnie’s idea,” Jooheon says. “He went to a foam party once and wouldn’t shut up about it, so…”

“Wait… there will be foam?” Kihyun blinks. _How come I don’t know squat of what’s going on?!_

“Only in the jacuzzi room,” Jooheon laughs. “What’s with the face?”

“Foam, cups, drinks and my slippery feet don’t work very well together,” Kihyun scoffs.

“That’s why it’s only in the jacuzzi room,” Jooheon scoffs. “We don’t want the strippers breaking their necks on stage, tripping on foam.”

“Boner guys falling face down, though… Ouch.”

Jooheon laughs, moves over to give Kihyun a pat on the back before leaning on the counter. Kihyun pulls the papers closer to himself and glances up for a second before he catches himself and looks back down. Jooheon, though, looks over when Changkyun laughs at something.

“Do you like him, though? Like, actually.”

Kihyun tongues at the corner of his lips and frowns a little at the papers, heart jumping up and down like it just went bungee jumping. “Are you asking to scold me or are you asking out of curiosity…?”

“I am in _no_ position to scold you, Ki,” Jooheon smiles, bumping his shoulder with Kihyun’s. 

Kihyun looks up at Changkyun and then glances away. It feels like he might give too much away by looking, it’s weird. It’s all some yucky vulnerability Kihyun doesn’t know what to do with. “Yeah… I do.”

Jooheon stays quiet for a few moments, teeth chewing at his lip. “Right… Are you… I mean, are you okay?”

Kihyun frowns. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Jooheon gives him a levelled look. “Ki, I’ve been crushing on a stripper for three years now. I know what it’s like.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes and ignores the little pang at the reminder. “It was _fine_ until you brought it up, God…” Kihyun takes a deep breath and lets it go. He glances up at Changkyun. “I know, alright? I know… I’ll deal with it, if I have to.”

“Do you plan on asking him out?” Jooheon asks, leaning against the counter. “You should have seen how he physically deflated when he saw that hickey and realised it was you.”

 _“Again,”_ Kihyun says with the remaining patience he managed to store since the subject was last brought up-- _Aka not even three minutes ago_ , “I don’t remember doing that. And--” Kihyun looks at Jooheon and frowns. “Wait, what do you mean…?”

Jooheon huffs a small breath, shakes his head. “I _mean_ , I think he likes you, too.”

Kihyun blinks and then looks to Changkyun. “He does…?”

“I think so,” Jooheon repeats, sounding a little cheerful. “Wouldn’t hurt to try, right?”

Kihyun’s shoulders slump a little and he sighs. “Might hurt a little, actually. But that’s not the point…” The point is that it’s all just a little scary. But that’s fine, too. “The real question would be… Do I want to deal with it? Because, I know myself. And I’d be putting myself in a position that… I don’t know. It’s a lot of work… For me, I mean. Emotional work.”

Jooheon takes a breath and glances to Minhyuk helping Hyunwoo with the palm tree and sighs. “It… would be worth it, for me. It’s up to you to decide if it’ll be worth it for you. And hey, it’s not like Kyun’s gonna be a stripper forever, he talked my ear off about sciencey shit the other night, so...”

Kihyun shrugs. “None of my business if he is or isn’t… But yeah, I get you.” He sighs, _again,_ “It’s just--”

“Put these on!” Sunmi chirps as she _fucking shows up out of nowhere_ and dunks two flower necklaces over Kihyun’s head and then two others over Jooheon’s. “Kihyun, I need those in thirty, hurry.”

Kihyun blinks and looks down at the papers. “Shit, yeah--Sorry!” He looks at Jooheon, shrugs and then frowns at the flowers before grabbing the papers and his phone and walking into the kitchen.

_Focus, focus._

\---

Tropical Night.

The place is all colorful. Flowers, palm trees, drinks served in coconuts and pineapples--Kihyun actually flipped a drink or two while he and Jooheon tried to remember how to do most of the cocktails they’re serving tonight, it was funny to watch.

Things are not as wild as Ladies Night. There’s lots of people around but nothing crazy has happened yet. _Yet_ , being the word to focus on. Not to mention they don’t have to work extra hours and all will flow as scheduled.

Whatever ‘tropical’ has to do with _‘Hips Don’t Lie’_ is up to Hyungwon and Hyungwon alone, though. Really, the song has passed three times already in less than four hours. Maybe it’s because people actually dance to it, _hips and all._

Changkyun swears he’s never been this consistently wet. But people pay a lot to get the strippers into the Jacuzzi room, so it’s fine, really. And he only gets a _little_ cold. Maybe a little more than a little...

His favourite part of the night is being able to put leis around people’s necks and say they got ‘leid’. _Ah, puns, you really keep me going_.

He really might throw something at Hyungwon if he plays _‘All Star’_ again, though. What _mood_ is this man in?! 

Fuck it all, nevertheless, because Changkyun finds a towel and wraps it over his shoulders, shivering a little as he walks up to the bar, hair dripping onto his face. Thank god for waterproof makeup.

When he sees Kihyun, sees the unimpressed expression at a small group of girls ordering a round of complicated sounding cocktails, he has to laugh. _Cute_. He spots Minhyuk, though, and rushes over.

“Cold cold cold cold cold,” Changkyun says, bouncing up and down next to him. “Why aren’t you cold, oh my god.”

“Because I’m hot,” Minhyuk says far too seriously for the way he worded it. He sips on his big ass drink and smacks his lips. “This,” he says, “Is a Bahama Mama. The most complicated drink on the menu. So, of course I’ve already had Kiki make me two.”

Changkyun scoffs, arms hugging around himself. “You’ve been recommending it too, haven’t you?”

Minhyuk grins and then uncrosses his legs, pats on one of them, “Sit here.”

Changkyun raises an eyebrow, amused. “Seriously?”

“Call it ‘promoting’, if you’d like. Besides, you look cold.”

“I am,” Changkyun grumbles and then sighs, sitting on Minhyuk’s lap because _dammit, he’s right_. “Since apparently I’m not hot enough to heat myself up,” Changkyun scoffs.

“Obviously,” Minhyuk says as he reaches up to fix Changkyun’s hair. “Take a sip from my drink. It’s a bomb. Kiki said it’s like four types of rum or something.”

Changkyun leans over and takes a sip, features scrunching. “That’s--That’s alcohol alright.”

“Aw, were you expecting juice, honey?”

Changkyun rolls his eyes and laughs. “I feel oddly babied right now.”

Minhyuk pouts. “Aw, cute. You’ve had a lot of jacuzzi requests today.”

“Yeeeeep,” Changkyun grins. “My bank account _loves_ me right now.”

Minhyuk sighs wistfully, “Better than pretending to fuck the floor.”

“So that’s what I’ve been missing…”

“It’s this regular I have,” Minhyuk mumbles, “He’s a sweetheart, really. But… he also always asks me the same thing; grind on the table or on the floor. Every single time. You’d think he’d get tired of it, but nope.”

Changkyun raises an eyebrow. “That sounds… dull. But hey, at least he’s not one of those creeps or whatever. I mean, he _is_ ,” Changkyun scoffs. “But like a tame sort of creep.” Changkyun wiggles a little closer, squishes his cheek against Minhyuk’s hair, because yeah, Minhyuk is pretty warm. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, honey,” Minhyuk says cheerfully even as he smiles and winks at someone who glances over.

“What’s it like…” Changkyun swallows. “Dating, when this is your job? I know you’ve got Hyunwoo…”

Minhyuk pauses and then actually turns his head to look at Changkyun. Minhyuk doesn’t answer right away, though. He seems to contemplate the question for a moment and then looks away and says, “Depends on two very simple things; how invested you are _and_ who they are.”

Changkyun glances to the bar again, at Kihyun, and his heart tugs a little before he looks away.

“Is it better or worse if they work here or not…” Changkyun frowns. That made sense, right?

“Hm, depends,” Minhyuk shrugs, reaches for the straw in his drink and plays with it, “Working here doesn’t mean they’re over certain things. It’s easy for us to say everything else means nothing because… Because we own our feelings. But that’s no one else’s business. So, really, I wouldn’t blame someone if they turned me down after finding out.” He takes a sip. “It’s always complicated, even if they understand. But if you’re both willing to work on it and get past, well, a lot of shit…? Jealousy, unfounded as it might be then, yeah, it works.”

Changkyun pouts to himself. “Yeah… Thanks, Min,” Changkyun leans away to smile at him, fix a stray hair. “We’ll just have to see what happens, huh.”

Minhyuk glances up, straw between his lips, and grins when he looks at something before looking away. “Huh. Question, is it Joo or Kiki?”

Changkyun groans, still invested in this pout. “No way I’m that obvious.”

“No… but--” Minhyuk grins around the straw, “They were both looking at us just now and then casually looked away when I looked over.”

Changkyun rolls his eyes. “Yeah, because you’re here.” Wait. _Hold up_ . “I mean,” Changkyun flusters. “It’s not necessarily because of _me_ \--” _That’s not better._

“They’re cute. But don’t tell Kiki I said so.”

Changkyun huffs, small. “Trust me, I won’t…”

“For a moment, I thought it was Wonho,” Minhyuk chirps. “But…” He looks towards the bar and waves with a grin. And when Changkyun looks over, he sees Kihyun flipping Minhyuk the finger, which makes Changkyun snort a laugh. “But Wonhie likes someone else. So, that wouldn’t work. If it’s one of them, though,” Minhyuk nods at the bar, “You’ll be fine.”

Changkyun bites at his lip, looks away from the bar. “It’s Kihyun… I really like him. _Please_ don’t tell him…”

“And why would I do that,” Minhyuk laughs softly, looks up at Changkyun and smiles at him. “I think you’ll be perfectly fine, then. I give him shit, but he’s a great guy. Very boyfriend.”

Changkyun smiles, looking down with a small blush. “Yeah, I know. I feel so damn teen right now,” Changkyun laughs softly. “Wondering if a boy likes me back. Blegh.”

Another man walks past, smiling at Changkyun. 

“I should go chase that shouldn’t I...”

Minhyuk shrugs. “If you want. _I_ am going to order another one of those and then get lewd with someone.”

“What a job,” Changkyun laughs, stands up and ruffles his wet hair, takes off the towel and throws it over his shoulder. He glances to the bar one more time, heart stopping in its tracks for a split second purely because… well, Kihyun is really sort of beautiful, isn’t he? And he’s looking right back.

So, Changkyun smiles at him, lifts a hand as if to say ‘hey’. And Kihyun sticks his tongue out before quickly pulling it back into his mouth and blinking at a girl who jumps towards the counter.

Changkyun looks away and takes a breath. It’s just a job, a job he needs if he wants to achieve the things he wants from life, but he can’t help but hope that it won’t get in the way of _other things_ he wants as well. ‘Other things’ being the fact that he didn’t wake up alone this morning; that Kihyun had taken care of him when Changkyun had felt so, _so_ vulnerable; held him even though Changkyun felt dirty, crying in the bathroom. It feels like a lot to ask, but Changkyun wants to ask it, just to see what the answer could be.

\---

Time is a hazy concept in this kind of job. Sometimes, Changkyun is aware of the passing hours. Sometimes, five minutes are actually five seconds. And then two hours turn into two days.

It’s barely past midnight, though, when the man Changkyun had been talking to pays him, gets up from the small table they were occupying and his seat is quickly taken by Kihyun, who places a colourful shot glass with a teeny tiny slice of pineapple clipped to it in front of Changkyun.

“Hey,” Kihyun says, “Try this.”

It’s so easy to smile, then, and reach for the shot. “Does this one also come with specific instructions?”

Kihyun shrugs and then looks at the bar where Jooheon is one handedly taking care of five orders. “Just gotta answer a question… But drink first,” Kihyun leans back and looks at Changkyun with a grin, “It’s the lava floooooow…”

Changkyun giggles, takes the piece of pineapple and takes the shot before throwing the pineapple slice into his mouth, eyes wide on Kihyun. “It’s good! Wow! Is that banana?” Changkyun smacks his lips. “Coconut…”

“Coconut rum,” Kihyun says. “And white rum, blended in a smoothie.”

“It’s my favourite shot now,” Changkyun says, nodding. “Yep, definitely.”

“Nice,” Kihyun says, looks down at his lap and then leans forward. “Alright. The question is--” Kihyun takes a breath and narrows his eyes, nothing coming out even though he opens his mouth to speak.

Changkyun tilts his head with a small frown. “You okay…?”

“Great, yeah,” Kihyun snorts, looks down and tongues at the inside of his cheek. “It’s two questions, actually… Maybe I should go get another shot…”

Changkyun bites both lips in not to smile too widely, chest warm. “Gosh, what kind of questions need more shots…”

Kihyun looks at the bar and leans back, licks his lips and clears his throat. “Alright, alright… So… Next Tuesday, after work, I was thinking… Since we’re both free on Wednesday, I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere? I don’t know,” Kihyun shrugs and looks at his lap where he’s fidgeting with his hands, “We can take the car and just… go somewhere.”

Changkyun blinks. “Yeah,” Changkyun says, nodding. “Yeah, that sounds really nice…” _Does he mean… like… a date?_

“Cool,” Kihyun says casually, sinks down a little in his seat.

“What--” Changkyun clears his throat, suddenly nervous. “What’s the second question..?”

Kihyun keeps looking at the bar, blinks fast and then says, “Wanna dance with me?”

Changkyun lets himself smile wide, hand up to pinch his bottom lip. “Now..?”

“Whenever,” Kihyun shrugs and then frowns. “Dammit, shouldn’t have brought that second shot.”

Changkyun laughs, standing up, holding out his hands and wiggling his fingers. “Nah. You need to be steady on your feet.”

Kihyun blinks at Changkyun’s hand and then up at him. “Wait, really?”

“Why not,” Changkyun chirps, wiggles his fingers some more. “All the world’s a dance floor.”

“That,” Kihyun snorts and smiles as he takes Changkyun’s hand and gets up, “Is so lame. I love it.”

Changkyun laughs, feels himself blush as he pulls Kihyun to an open space. “Thanks, it’s my own reimagining of Wouldiwas Shookspeare.”

Kihyun laughs and rolls his eyes. “So smart,” he says, and Changkyun feels Kihyun’s fingers curl around his before there’s a little tug that makes Changkyun turn, face close to Kihyun’s.

Changkyun’s heart jumps and he smiles, “Are you leading, then?”

Kihyun narrows his eyes and leans in to say, “You are the one with loose hips or whatever that was, no?” into Changkyun’s ear.

_Aaaah, goosebumps!_

“Fair point,” Changkyun says, laughs a little at himself when he starts dancing and it’s--it’s nothing like what he does on stage, this is just _silly_. He bops his head, swings his hips, laughs, bringing Kihyun’s hand up to do a spin under it before Kihyun tugs him closer again. “Not what you were expecting?” Changkyun teases.

“Totally what I was expecting,” Kihyun snorts and looks to the side to laugh when Jooheon joins them, coming from in between a group of people and doing a _bad_ imitation of the Moon Walk. Like… it’s _bad._

Kihyun folds his arm around Changkyun, over his shoulder, and holds him close for a moment, pulling him away from Jooheon’s broad and dangerous dance moves. Changkyun is blushing and laughing, nervous somewhere in his stomach but elated somewhere in his chest. 

“He’s a danger to us all,” Changkyun laughs, Jooheon bopping his head and flapping his arms like a damn deranged chicken. So much flapping!

The song hiccups from some techno beat to _‘My Name’_ by DJ H.ONE and others _(you go, Hyungwon),_ and everyone starts jumping. Kihyun lets go of Changkyun to jump, too, and Jooheon does the same, arms up, flailing like crazy. It’s easy to fall into step and join them; it feels just like all those other clubs Changkyun has been to before he worked here (minus the naked men, obviously).

When the chorus comes, though, both Kihyun and Jooheon twirl their hands up to their heads in some flowy movement and then bring them down as they do body rolls.

Changkyun forgets he’s supposed to be dancing. 

_Oh god_.

Kihyun is _right in front of him! Doing body rolls!_ How is he supposed to handle that!

Except, after doing that and some rather provoking half crouch to look at Jooheon over his shoulder, both of them just start laughing, Kihyun having to grab Changkyun’s hand not to fall. Changkyun holds him up, knocked back into reality (those body rolls are going to _haunt_ him) and laughs, rolling his shoulders to loosen up (because yeah, this is Kihyun, he’s _nervous_ ) and dances like he does on a table. Sort of. Much more laughing, far more clothed. And this time? It’s actually _really_ fun, the way he just loses himself in the song, knowing that the hands that barely touch his hips every now and then won’t be going anywhere else.

\---

Kihyun tried to keep it casual because if he got turned down then it would have been fine. But it’s difficult to stay casual about it. It’s difficult to pretend that every look doesn’t linger for more than necessary. It’s difficult to mask the reluctance in letting go whenever they touch for whatever reason. It’s difficult to keep the urge to just crush Changkyun into a hug in check. Even more difficult to avoid thinking about kissing him.

It’s difficult, more and more as Tuesday approaches.

It’s difficult, but Kihyun manages.

“What are you doing?” Jooheon asks as he passes a man his drink.

Kihyun blinks at his phone, “Watching otter compillations.” It soothes the soul. Otters are cute and fight stress on the daily.

“Like that one you sent me last night, the little otter rubbing at its eyes? That was cuuuuute."

“Ugh, don’t make me emo,” Kihyun groans, melts a little over the counter.

Jooheon laughs, moves closer to look over Kihyun’s shoulder. “Man, they’re cute. Makes me wish we were closer to the ocean.”

“That’s a mood,” Kihyun mutters, pouts at his phone. “Imagine having a house by the sea, man… And you open the window and it’s all just the sound of the waves…”

“Your turn not to make _me_ emo,” Jooheon whines. “I want it, damn you.”

“And we could get totally baked while just… chilling on a balcony and listening to the ocean.”

“Now there’s a retirement plan,” Jooheon scoffs, looking up when Changkyun walks closer, smiling wide. “Hey-o.”

“Hey!” Changkyun smiles, sitting down and bouncing a little on the seat. 

“Look,” Kihyun says, turns the phone and the otters in it screen to Changkyun, “We’re in love.”

Changkyun blinks at the phone before he pouts, melts over the counter. “They’re so cute, why would you do this to me…”

“Jooheon and I are planning our retirement already,” Kihyun says, “A house at the beach.”

Changkyun sighs wistfully. “That sounds so nice… I wanna swim while it’s night out, you know? So you can see all the stars.”

“We do that sometimes,” Kihyun mumbles. “We can take you next time.”

Jooheon nods slowly. “The club closes during the last week of August, so… you’re totally coming with us, Kyun.”

Changkyun perks up, eyes darting between the two of them. “For real? Wah… Now I’m all excited!”

Kihyun squishes his cheek against his arm, folded on the counter, and glances up at Changkyun. “It’s usually just us, but we’re a trio now. So, yeah.”

Changkyun’s face seems to light up a little, smiling wide. “Great! I can’t wait!” Changkyun opens his mouth to speak again, but looks to Jooheon and seems to falter, holds his own hands on the counter. “Wh--Where do you go?”

Jooheon blinks. “Eurwangni beach, in Incheon,” he says. “My cousin has a house nearby but he’s never around in August so…”

“That’s lucky,” Changkyun chirps. “I’ve never been there before. Never really left the city, actually.”

“Definitely coming with, then,” Kihyun mumbles, looks down at his phone, at the otters. _Cute._ “Don’t make plans for August. You’re ours.”

Jooheon narrows his eyes and nods, “Territory marked. We can have Ki leave a hickey on you, just in case--”

“Unnecessary, Joo,” Kihyun grumbles, Changkyun turning a bright red. _I really don’t remember doing that, though._

“That--That’s okay, I didn’t have any plans…” Changkyun bites at his lip. “What are you guys doing for Christmas, by the way?”

Kihyun and Jooheon look between each other and say, at the same time, “Die? Die. And get high.”

Changkyun laughs, hand to his mouth. “That sounds nice, too. Especially the ‘death’ bit. Very festive.”

“Annnd,” Kihyun whines, reaches over to poke Changkyun’s cheek. “You’re joining us for that, too, if you don’t have plans.”

Changkyun looks away, smiles shyly. “I didn’t… It’s funny, you told me this place is like a family and I didn’t really believe you,” Changkyun scoffs softly. “But… Yeah, it is.”

Kihyun blinks and straightens up a little. “Yeah… Of course it is.”

“We’re all bros and sisters…” Jooheon chirps and then frowns. “Well, I’m always a bro, but--”

Kihyun laughs and raises an eyebrow. “You should see him with a wig,” he tells Changkyun. “A good looking _sister_. Made me question, really.”

Changkyun gapes. “Oh my god, I need to see that…”

“Last year we swapped,” Kihyun says, “The men dressed as girls and the girls as men. It was funny. Especially Wonho.”

Changkyun laughs. “Ah, but he could pull it off! I’m sure he could! Is that going to happen again this year?”

Kihyun shrugs, “I don’t think so? But we can ask Sunmi. I think you’d like it.”

Changkyun nods enthusiastically, looks to the side when a man calls for a drink and Jooheon walks over. _Another Bourbon? Seriously..._

“About tomorrow,” Changkyun says, still looking at Jooheon, and Kihyun perks up. “Is it…” Changkyun swallows, clearly nervous. “You never said if it was a, er, if it was a date…”

Kihyun’s heart jumps up a little and he blinks. “Oh… Uhm. Yeah…? But it’s okay if you don’t want it to be a date… We can just--” _Ouchie,_ “Go as friends…?” Friends is good, too.

“I think I’d quite like it to be a date...” Changkyun says, voice soft and ears a bright red.

“Then,” Kihyun looks down and nods as he tries not to smile. “It’s a date…”

“Great!” Changkyun chirps, then, sitting a little straighter and smiling wider. “I mean--yeah, great, that’s…” Changkyun laughs. “Great. I’m saying ‘great’ a lot, don’t mind me...”

Kihyun smiles down at the counter and shrugs. “It’s fine… I’ll… I’ll leave a bit earlier tomorrow so I can go fetch the car while you guys tidy things up. And then I’ll pick you up.”

And again, it just looks like Changkyun is beaming, as he nods and stands up. “Sounds gre-- _good_ ,” he corrects, puffs a breath. “Sounds good. I--” Changkyun looks around as the doors open and he points over his shoulder. “I have to work now… Save any cute otters for me, yeah?”

Kihyun smiles a little at him and gives him a salute, “Move along, Corporal.”

“Aye aye, Captain,” Changkyun laughs, salutes back and walks to the newcomers.

“That went well,” Jooheon scoffs closeby.

“Ugh,” Kihyun groans and melts over the counter, relief spreading through his chest, “Shush. For a moment I thought he was going to backtrack…”

“Aw, but did you see that smile?” Jooheon laughs. “My heart is a puddle.”

Kihyun puffs his cheeks. “Shuddup… He’s adorable…”

“Ehehe,” Jooheon laughs, poking at Kihyun’s side. “Kihyun and Changkyun, sitting in a tree--”

“Jooheon and my fist, kissing at the club--”

Jooheon cackles. “I look forward to getting my bed back.”

\---

“Why on earth are you making yourself look so pretty?” Minhyuk scoffs, dressed in sweats, face pink and newly washed. “The day is over, honey.”

Changkyun laughs, leaning over the table as he finishes up the makeup on his eyes. It’s not even nearly as much as he wears at work, for obvious reasons. And he gets to wear actual clothes, that he brought with him, new stuff he’d gone to pick up from his house he barely sees anymore.

A t-shirt under a white hoodie, a light denim jacket, red converse and black skinny jeans, ripped at the knees. 

“I have a date,” Changkyun chirps, smiling at himself in the mirror, reaching for a lip stain. “With Kihyun.”

Minhyuk blinks. And then blinks again. And finally lets his eyes widen with a loud, “Oooooooh! With Kiki?” A pause. “Totally didn’t see that coming,” Minhyuk deadpans.

Changkyun frowns, looks at Minhyuk’s reflection in the brightly lit mirrors. “Ouch…?” he laughs, smacking his lips and then looking at them in the mirror. _Kissable? Oh lord._

Minhyuk huffs a laugh and shakes his head, walks closer to lean against the wall, right next to the mirror. “You look great. Leave it be.”

Changkyun slumps back, starts packing away the makeup to put in his locker. “Thanks,” Changkyun smiles over at him, and then around. “Where’d Hyunwoo go? I swear he was here a second ago…”

Minhyuk shrugs, “Home I think?”

“You two live together?”

“Nope. He can only take my shit for a short amount of time,” Minhyuk scoffs.

Changkyun frowns, pouts. “That’s…” Changkyun just frowns, stuffs his belongings into his locker and closes it. “Oh.”

“Oh?”

Changkyun shakes his head. “It’s none of my business,” he mumbles.

Minhyuk blinks, narrows his eyes and tilts his head. “What… isn’t none of your business?”

“Your relationship with Hyunwoo,” Changkyun says, feeling a little awkward.

Minhyuk blinks again, shifts a little where he’s leaning against the wall. “Ah. Right… We’re just friends, though. With… benefits? But friends.”

Changkyun blinks, sees the surprise in his face in his own reflection. “Wait, you’re not dating? Like--” Changkyun blinks some more. “You’re single.”

Minhyuk glances at the window. He seems a little bummed. “I know everyone assumes we’re dating, but it’s complicated to explain it all the time so we just roll with it. Plus, it keeps the creeps away… But yeah, I’m single as fuck.”

Changkyun opens his mouth, closes it with a swallow and walks closer to Minhyuk. “I’m… going to trust you with something… You have to _promise_ you won’t tell anyone I told you.”

Minhyuk frowns and glances over. He crosses his arms and tilts his head. “Alright, what is it?”

Changkyun drops his eyes before looking around, like he has to make sure they’re alone. “You might already know, but… Jooheon likes you. A lot. He hasn’t said it, but I can tell…”

Minhyuk’s shoulders slump a little. “Honey? What? Really?”

Changkyun smiles soft, nods. “Yeah, really… And I know he’ll never say anything, he thinks… Honestly, he needs a boost of self-esteem, for some reason he thinks strippers are above him or something…”

“Hah?!” Minhyuk says, clearly annoyed despite the fondness in his eyes. “He’s an idiot…” Minhyuk shifts a little and glances to the side, mutters, “Total idiot…”

“I know,” Changkyun laughs small. “That’s why I’m telling you…”

“Bet everyone but me knew about it.”

Changkyun bites at his lip, looks away. “Don’t be mad, he’s just…” Changkyun sighs. 

“I’m not mad,” Minhyuk rolls his eyes and pushes away from the wall. “He’s a dumpling. How can you get mad at a dumpling. It’s impossible…”

“That… sounds like you like him, too,” Changkyun teases with a soft tone, picking up his phone and walking to the door with Minhyuk and switching off the light.

“He’s like ongshimi, everyone likes him and whoever doesn’t needs to get a medical check.”

Changkyun laughs. “ _Please_ go tell him he’s ongshimi, I beg of you.”

Minhyuk glances over and then looks to the bar, licks his lips, eyebrows quirking up a little when he grins. “If he blushes you’ll buy me a drink.”

Changkyun scoffs. “Sure, Min. And only because I know you’d do it with or without the drink.”

Minhyuk gives a run to the bar and jumps over the counter to sit down, crossing his legs. “Hey,” he says right away when Jooheon looks up, kinda gaping at him, eyes wide, “So, I’ve been thinking…”

“Y--Yeah?” Jooheon asks, voice a little higher than usual. “About what?”

Minhyuk brings a hand up to bite at his thumb, eyes narrowing at Jooheon, and then brings his hand down to gesture at Jooheon’s face with a finger, “You’re all squishy, round and white. You’re like an ongshimi, a cute one.”

Changkyun bites his lips in not to laugh. _Dear God, Minhyuk, the man’s going to die of a heart attack_.

Which it looks like he’s having, Jooheon’s mouth opening and closing, face quickly turning a bright shade of red. “O--Okay? Thank you…?”

“Do you have ongshimi qualities as well?” Minhyuk asks, propping his elbows on his knees and squishing his own cheeks between his hands. “Do you warm cold hearts, too, Honey?”

Jooheon visibly swallows. “I… like to think so…?” he says. “Minhyuk, what are you…?”

Minhyuk blinks, looking far too innocent compared to the grin he showed Changkyun just a few minutes ago, “Hm? Nothing.” He reaches over and pokes Jooheon’s nose before turning over the counter and hopping off. “You should show me sometime. We never hang out. We totally should.”

“Okay,” Jooheon squeaks, before clearing his throat, putting down the cloth he was busy with. “How about this Sunday?”

“Sunny, I’ve heard,” Minhyuk says, leans back against the counter and grins at Jooheon over his shoulder. “Or moony, in our case. After work?”

Jooheon nods, eyes still a little wide. “After work. Dinner--Breakfast, whatever?”

“Ooooh!” Minhyuk beams. “I like burgers. Do you like burgers?”

“Who doesn’t like burgers?” Jooheon says, smiling a little now, like it’s finally sinking in.

“Uncultured people,” Minhyuk says, “Although, you’ll have to eat my pickles.” He snorts. “I don’t like pickles.”

“I’ll eat every pickle in the world,” Jooheon says before he seems to realise he said it, blushing even more.

“Aw, that’s sooooo gaaaay!”

The front door opens and Kihyun walks in, frowns in amusement at Minhyuk and Jooheon and then looks at Changkyun.

Kihyun looks… so casual. More casual than Changkyun has ever seen him when it comes to actually being dressed. Usually, because of work, Kihyun is always wearing black skinny jeans and black shirts. Today, his sweatpants are black, too, but side lined in white, tucked into his socks that come over his ankles. And his t-shirt is red, white and black to match with his sneakers.

Unlike an hour and a half ago, Kihyun’s hair is all fluffy, falling a bit over his eyes.

Minhyuk turns to look at him and blinks very, very slowly. “You look terrible, darling. Where are you going like that?”

Kihyun seems to flinch for a moment and then looks down at himself. “Ah… I…”

Changkyun walks quickly towards Kihyun, hugs him, for some fucking reason. “You look great, ignore him.” He also smells great and his hair still feels a little damp. He totally showered in a hurry, Changkyun can totally picture it in his head--the hurry, not Kihyun showering, _ohmygod._ Great thoughts to be having mid-hug.

“Tha--Thanks,” Kihyun says, hands coming up to Changkyun’s sides and leaning back to look at him, expression all soft despite the wide eyes. “You look adorable…”

Changkyun feels himself blush--this is going to be a long-ass date, at this rate. “Thanks, I tried,” he teases and Minhyuk walks past them, patting both of them on the head.

“Have fun, you two. Be safe, use protection, stick to the speed-limit--”

Kihyun rolls his eyes and glances to the side before looking at Jooheon. “See you later, man,” Kihyun says, takes Changkyun’s hand and tugs. Kihyun looks extra small in baggy sports clothes, it’s cute. He looks horribly huggable, really.

They walk out and Changkyun wiggles their entwined hands, leans in to whisper in excitement. “Guess what!”

“What,” Kihyun asks, clearly amused.

“Minhyuk called Jooheon an ongshimi and they have a date on Sunday!”

Kihyun blinks and turns his head to look at Changkyun. _“No…_ For real?”

Changkyun nods, smiling wide. “Yeah! Hyunwoo and Minhyuk aren’t dating, they’re just… fuck buddies, I guess, so!” Changkyun bounces. “They’re going on a date!”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Kihyun blinks, gapes. “They’re _fuck buddies?_ They--I feel so cheated _right now,_ oh god…” He scoffs, raises a hand in the air and says softly, “Good on you, Joo.”

Changkyun giggles. “You should have seen his face… I’ve never seen anyone that flustered and confused.”

“Aish,” Kihyun groans, throws his head back. “Damn… Okay, that will take time to sink in… _Fuck buddies…_ Okay.” He laughs. And when they pass a lamppost, Changkyun notices the freckles on Kihyun’s face, the mole by his lip. _He’s not wearing makeup._

Like… at all. 

Changkyun has seen it before, but not this close. _So many freckles_ … 

Kihyun blinks and then looks at Changkyun. “What…” he scoffs, frowning a little.

Changkyun’s heart jumps a little. Whoops. _Caught staring._ But hey, if there’s any time to stare, it’s on a date. “Uhm,” Changkyun says very intelligently, looks away, to the front. “Sorry, I just… Freckles…”

“What…?” Kihyun chuckles as he reaches into his pocket and brings out the car keys. Something, lights, flashes in the close distance. “Freckles?”

“You have them,” Changkyun says, blushing. “It’s pretty.”

“Oh… Thanks… I didn’t have time to slap anything on, sorry...”

Changkyun laughs. “I call your freckles pretty and you apologise for not covering them up? Aaaaaaish.”

“Shut up,” Kihyun laughs, pulls Changkyun closer and then pushes him towards the car, “Your chariot, Majesty.”

“Oooh, roleplay,” Changkyun teases, walks around to open the door on shotgun. “Who are you, my bodyguard?”

Kihyun shrugs, “Kingsguard? Or a notorious buttler.”

“Ehehe, _butt_ ler,” Changkyun cackles as he gets into the car, stretching his legs out as much as he can. It smells like… mint? Mint. Huh. “Where are you taking me, then, Albert?”

Kihyun gets in and closes the door, leans forward to insert the keys and glances over. “Jeongwang-dong,” he says. “There’s a pier and a 7-eleven nearby in case we get the munchies. But it’s like an hour and a half away from here so, buckle up.”

“Oooh, a mini road trip!” Changkyun smiles wide, buckles up. “I love road trips. We can talk a bunch.”

“Sounds good,” Kihyun laughs, turns the key, ignition, and the car starts, a song Changkyun recognizes coming up a little loud just before Kihyun lowers the volume. _‘Talking In Your Sleep’...?_ Huh.

“The Romantics,” Changkyun says, smiles at the radio. “Seems fitting.”

“I swear it wasn’t on purpose,” Kihyun laughs, shifts the gearbox and turns the will to pull the car onto the road.

“Wouldn’t mind if it was.”

Kihyun bites both lips in and wiggles himself at the beat of the song for a moment while slapping his fingers on the wheel. It makes Changkyun’s chest warm a little, because it looks like something Kihyun does all the time, while he’s alone. 

The song ends quickly, though. It was way past the middle. And _‘Summer’_ by Imagine Dragons flows in. It’s such a trippy song to listen to at night. Trippy in a good way, in the way it just seems to fit.

“Not to alarm you, but I think we might have very similar music tastes,” Changkyun says, sitting back in his seat to get comfortable.

“Oh?” Kihyun glances over, narrows his eyes playfully and then reaches for the buttons on his door to lower the windows all the way down. It’s not too cold, not too hot either, it’s just perfect. “I won’t go too fast so this should be fine,” he says, props his elbow on the windowsill and looks to the side when they stop at an intersection. 

Not to be gay as fuck or anything, but there’s something just… really attractive about a guy driving a car. It’s not Changkyun’s fault, it’s just a _fact of life._

“My phone is in there,” Kihyun says, gestures at the opening below the control panel, “You can pick the music, if you want.”

“Nah,” Changkyun says, shrugs. “It’s nice getting an insight into what you listen to.”

“Everything,” Kihyun shrugs, turns on the intersection and drives slowly. “I prefer rock but… I listen to everything, really.”

Changkyun raises an eyebrow. “Rock? Huh… Yeah, I see it. I listen to pretty much everything, too, but I like hip hop, rap, that kinda stuff.”

Kihyun grins and reaches for the touch panel in the middle, skips a few songs and stops when _‘Another One Bites The Dust’_ starts, fingers drumming on the wheel with the rhythm. “Hip hop is cool, rap, too. Just not Eminem, please.” 

“ _God_ , no,” Changkyun laughs. “I’m offended you would even insinuate such a thing!”

“Thank god, I can like you in peace.”

Changkyun bites at his lip as he smiles, chest warm. _It’s a medical condition at this point, seriously_. “More a Childish Gambino, Khalid, Lil Nas kinda guy. Oh, and Elhae! Love Elhae. Ugh, and Joji… That’s not rap but he deserves a nomination in my books.”

“The only thing,” Kihyun laughs, “I can remember from Lil Nas is _freaking_ _‘Panini’!”_

“Panini’s great!” Changkyun laughs. 

“That and _‘Rodeo’,_ listened to it high once and I swear I was in a Star Trek setting for a moment. Like, one of those freaky worlds.”

“Oh my god,” Changkyun laughs. “You should listen to ‘Slow Dancing in the Dark’ by Joji next time you’re high. It’ll fuck you _uuuuuup_ , seriously.”

“Now, there’s an idea for later,” Kihyun nods, speeds up just a little but not too much. The breeze actually feels amazing, so Changkyun lets his hoodie down to let it ruffle at his hair.

“Good, I have a whole playlist,” Changkyun grins.

“Text Joo, tell him to bring the bong so we can use it.”

Changkyun gets out his phone and does just that. “If he isn’t still in shock, that is.” Changkyun pockets his phone again, rolls his shoulders. “I hope it works out, really… I’d feel bad for stealing Jooheon’s cuddle buddy.”

“We can always cuddle together, the three of us,” Kihyun mumbles. “I’m joking, I don’t want that. Unless it’s like… platonic cuddling and I’m in the middle.”

Changkyun scoffs. “You just wanna hog all the warmth…”

“Annnnnd keep you all to myself. Is that so bad?” Kihyun scoffs, licks his lips and glances out the window on his side.

Changkyun smiles down at his lap. “And if I wanna keep you all to myself?”

“Jooheon cuddles the cats.”

Changkyun huffs a small laugh, licking his lips that keep pulling into a smile. “Great, glad we’ve got that sorted...” Changkyun looks out of the window, breeze blowing against his face. “Kinda also wanna steal those cats, though…”

Kihyun laughs. “Aish… yeah… We can always get one of our own?”

If they keep talking like this, Changkyun’s going to either fall in love or die, who knows.

“A puppy, maybe?”

“Oooooh!” Kihyun slaps lightly at the wheel with both hands, perking up. “I love puppies!”

“More than kittens?” Changkyun teases, looking over.

Kihyun looks over and pouts. “Puppiiiieees…”

Changkyun laughs. “Likes rock music and puppies. Noted.”

 _‘Bad Blood’,_ by Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar rolls in in the background and Kihyun sorta sing-songs along in a mumble. His voice is pretty.

So, in an attempt to show off, and from having listened to this song _waaaaaaay_ too many times, Changkyun falls into the rap with Kendrick without looking at Kihyun before he blushes himself into an early grave.

They sort of fall into it, though. Kihyun doesn’t look at Changkyun and sings just a little louder--damn, his voice, _ugh!--_ and Changkyun feels comfortable enough to rap, startling a little when Kihyun does ad libs in the middle. 

Rap… is something he’s never actually done in front of anyone else. And now he’s having actual fun with it, and just starts giggling when the song ends, hands over his face.

“I can’t believe I remembered all of it!”

“You’re so good, what _the fuck!”_ Kihyun gasps, glancing over quickly and then back to the road as their car overtakes the one in front of them.

“Oh, shut up, you sing like a fucking angel,” Changkyun says, trying not to laugh even as he blushes, peeking through his fingers. “We make a good team, though, if I do say so myself.”

“God, I’m never letting you go,” Kihyun laughs.

Changkyun reaches over to smack at his arm, laughing. “If I blush anymore, my head will explode, I swear to _God_.”

“Aish, shut up and pick us a song!”

“Round two,” Changkyun laughs and leans over to take Kihyun’s phone, scrolling through his library. “Feel special, I’ve never rapped in front of anyone before.”

“Oh, I do feel special,” Kihyun mumbles.

Changkyun glances over but says nothing, raises his eyebrows at a song before pressing play. “Some more Kendrick,” he says, as ‘ _Pray for Me_ ’ by The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar starts. “You weren’t kidding about listening to everything.”

“Black Panther,” Kihyun mutters.

“Ooooh, a Marvel nerd. Nice.”

“Thought you knew that already,” Kihyun laughs. “I told you I wanted to be Iron Man when I was younger.”

“Juuust appreciating it again, is all,” Changkyun says, grinning. “You have good taste, though, I _really_ liked Stranger Things.”

Kihyun smiles but not in a way that makes him look proud of it, he actually looks quite humble about it. Whether that’s just his expression or how he actually feels it a mystery lost to the ages, though.

They spend most of the time just listening to music and singing along. The farther away from the city they get, the more stars Changkyun can see in the sky. It’s not just the usual, big, bright ones anymore, it’s the small ones, the lines of constellations he’s forgotten the names to. 

Kihyun goes slow enough for the breeze to feel pleasant. And when Changkyun puts his hand out the window, fingers dancing with the wind, it feels like he’s floating a little.

It’s just the ride _to_ the official date or whatever, but honestly? Changkyun doubts anything will ever beat this, beat how natural and light it feels, how much Changkyun laughs and smiles, how comfortable he feels.

The atmosphere lights up in oranges as they approach Namdong-Gu and then cut towards Siheung, the lights vanishing again and the stars sparkling in the sky.

It takes a while, just driving through blocks and blocks of buildings. But then Kihyun cuts again, past a CU convenience store, driving slowly towards a small little town. Changkyun can already smell the sea water, hear the waves in the distance.

They pass a 7-Eleven and Kihyun cuts again. Changkyun notices the lighthouse, focus spinning once, twice as they get closer. The map on the naver reads ‘Oido-ro’.

“We’re close?” Changkyun asks, sitting up and ruffling at his hair. 

“Yep,” Kihyun says as he finds a place to park. “Wanna get out there? It’s a cool place.”

Changkyun smiles wide at the view, the red lighthouse, the railings and the ocean, stretched out in front of them, ending in what looks like buildings on the other side. “Yes yes yes,” Changkyun says, bouncing in his seat. 

Kihyun turns the car off and sighs. “Alright, let’s go then,” he says as he unbuckles his belt and opens the door, the sea breeze quickly washing over. He still reaches back to pick up his phone and the folded headset he had in the compartment under the wheel.

Changkyun fumbles a bit with the door before getting out, taking a deep breath and sighing. “Ocean…” Changkyun has only ever been to the ocean once or twice, on trips. “I forgot how nice it smells,” he mumbles, closing the door behind him.

Kihyun points the key over his shoulder to lock the car and jumps onto the sidewalk. “Haven’t had a chance to come here in a while… So, thanks for the excuse?” He laughs softly, unfolds the headset and hangs it around his neck, pockets his phone and glances over, lifting up his hand and waving Changkyun closer.

“I will give you aaaaaall the excuses,” Changkyun laughs, walking closer. 

Kihyun throws his arm over Changkyun’s shoulders ( _help_ ) and turns to walk with him down the breakwater, towards a wooden viewpoint with benches. When they sit down, Changkyun leans into him a little bit, pretty sure the smile on his face is just a permanent fixture at this point.

“I used to come here a lot,” Kihyun says, pulls his legs over the bench and crosses them, keeps his arm over Changkyun’s shoulders and turns to him, lips brushing against his hair. “When I got my license? I was like, ‘well, let’s go explore’ and ended up getting lost… I suppose it was a good kind of lost? Because I ended up here.”

“Serendipity,” Changkyun says, pulling his legs up as well, looking to Kihyun. “So you just stayed here for a while, then?”

Kihyun shrugs, “A bit. And then started coming whenever I wanted to escape the routine. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love staying home. But sometimes the whole home-work-home-work-home sequence fucks me up.”

“Oh, god, the _monotony_ ,” Changkyun says, like he’s a character in a period drama, before he scoffs. “Yeah… I getcha, though. I get a bit stir crazy if I only ever see two places all the damn time.”

“Well,” Kihyun snorts, curls a few of Changkyun’s hairs behind his ear, “You always have the shoebox, if you ever get tired of our crappy apartment.”

Changkyun smiles down at his lap for a moment, shakes his head. “It’s home, in a way. Can’t see myself getting tired of that. But feel free to kick me out,” Changkyun teases.

“And why would we do that?” Kihyun scoffs. “Joo was even planning on splitting the water bill with you next month.”

“ _Please_ do, I feel so bad,” Changkyun laughs. “The electricity too!”

“Well, you quite literally do make more money than we do, _it’s only fair…”_

Changkyun rolls his eyes, smiles. “Not my fault people can’t get enough of this _bodeh_.”

Kihyun looks up and down on Changkyun and then rolls his eyes. “Ah. Yeah, I was like, _what bodeh,_ but then I had images flash in my head.”

Changkyun barks a laugh, shoves lightly at him. “Rude! I’m just--a very specific _type_ , okay!”

“Yep, you’re Yoo Kihyun’s type.”

Changkyun feels his eyes soften before he rolls them. “Oh? Is it the butt?”

Kihyun snorts, head falling a little when he laughs. “God, no. I mean, that’s a bonus, I suppose. But…” he glances up. “No… it’s just… you? You’re cute. And when you giggle it makes me smile, I don’t know.”

 _Chest. Tight. Help_.

“Yes, well,” Changkyun mumbles, face warm. “You’re my type to a T, so… Whoop.”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow and smiles. “Is it the free drinks I give you all the time?”

“Oh, definitely,” Changkyun giggles. “Wouldn’t make a day without it.”

Kihyun smiles with the corner of his lips, eyes flicking on Changkyun’s face, and then looks down. “So… you’re like, Seoul-bound? Born and lived?”

Changkyun shakes his head, smiling small at Kihyun. It helps to look at him, it always does. It’s weird to think, but Kihyun is just… sweet looking. Like those cinnamon pancakes he makes, sometimes. “Moved there when I was eighteen… Grew up in Gwangju. You?”

“Born in Goyang,” Kihyun says, “Moved out at sixteen but only moved to Seoul at eighteen. Ah, wait--” Kihyun frowns. “First, I lived in Guri. It’s when I met Joo. He was going to Seoul, too, so we got the flat together and… then found out about the club and applied.”

“That’s great, though, that you get to work with your best friend.”

Kihyun shrugs and smiles. “Yeah, I suppose. What about you? Haven’t heard anything about _your_ friends since I met you.”

Changkyun quirks up his eyebrows at the same time his mouth pulls into a line. “Didn’t have any.”

Kihyun blinks. “Oh… Okay. Well, you do now.”

“Family, right?” Changkyun smiles, looking down at his lap.

“Best family I’ve ever had, to be honest.”

Changkyun bites at his lip and sighs softly, scratching at the back of his neck. “Yeah, same…” he smiles up at Kihyun and rolls his shoulders. “Sunmi’s like, my stripper mom or something.”

Kihyun narrows his eyes, “Kyunie… Is this going to work out? We have _the same_ _mother…”_

 _Ugh, Kyunie_. Changkyun bends forward a little in a laugh. “Adopted mother! I don’t even think it’s physically possible for her to be that young and have given birth to the both of us, aish.”

“She’s only one year older than I am,” Kihyun laughs, “So…”

“Definitely not, then,” Changkyun scoffs, glancing up. “Work out, huh?”

“Sometimes I do, yes,” Kihyun snorts.

“Wow,” Changkyun says, on the edge of another laugh. “Smooth.”

“The save… It was good.”

“It was, congrats,” Changkyun laughs, poking Kihyun’s knee. “You get a gold star.”

Kihyun slaps a hand over his chest and bows his head. “Thank you, thank you.”

“I’m totally going to invest in gold star stickers, now, it’ll be great. Every now and then, just lean over the counter and smack one on ya.”

“Careful,” Kihyun jokes, “Your regulars will get jealous.”

“Let ‘em,” Changkyun says, huffing a small laugh. He really can’t stop smiling, can he.

Kihyun pouts. “Aw, you’d make them jealous? For me? I’m shpweshal…”

Changkyun pokes at Kihyun’s pout, laughing. “Yesh, you are.”

“Oh, noooo,” Kihyun whines, tilting back a little for a moment and then reaching over to squish Changkyun’s cheeks between his hands, forcing him to pout. “Shay that agwain.”

Changkyun has to stop giggling first. “Oh my god… You _shpweshal_ . You _pwetty_ . You _noish._ ”

“Noish,” Kihyun repeats mid laugh, lets go of Changkyun’s cheeks and reaches for the hoodie, brings the hood over Changkyun’s head, eyes softening a little.

It’s precious to Changkyun, the way Kihyun seems to look at him sometimes, with that soft edge in his eyes, eyes that always seem to shine no matter the lighting.

Kihyun looks down and then picks up his headphones, moves it over his head and onto Changkyun’s, carefully adjusting it over Changkyun’s hoodie. Changkyun can no longer hear the waves, but he can still feel the breeze.

“Close your eyes, for a moment,” Kihyun says, his voice sounding muffled, deep.

Changkyun’s heart tightens in his chest but he bites at his bottom lip before closing his eyes, nerves sending little tingles along his skin. “Kay…”

It’s silent for a moment. But then a soft song starts, a song that feels a little melancholic, a summery kind of melancholy. He thinks he recognizes it but can’t remember the name. Not until the chorus kicks in and the song picks up-- _alternative rock?--_ and he remembers, _‘Kamikaze’._

_Here in this room_

_I’m chasing down my demons_

_I can hear them breathing_

_But who knew?_

_You would be my comfort_

_You could bring me healing_

_Well if my friends gonna let me slide_

_How come you never left my side?_

_Before I go make it last all night_

_While I slip into the great divide_

_Stepping out of body_

_No matter what you call it_

_I’m a kamikaze_

_Oh ah oh ah_

_Abandon all your logic_

_And put your money on it_

_I’m a kamikaze_

_Oh ah oh ah_

When the song goes melancholic again and the lyrics sound like, _‘Going down with my wings on fire’,_ Changkyun feels a soft press of lips against his.

Changkyun can’t help the way he freezes, eyes opening to look at Kihyun, a little wide, face warm. It’s just for a moment, though, as Changkyun reaches forward to Kihyun’s shirt and tugs him back close again, melting when he feels Kihyun’s lips against his own again.

Kihyun reaches up, grabs at the hem of the hood and tugs to keep Changkyun close, lips moving slowly against his. Changkyun can’t hear it, just hears music, but knows Kihyun makes a small sound when Changkyun does the same, chest tight and a little… overwhelmed. Changkyun has never been kissed like this, this softly, this carefully. It makes his head spin, his hands shake where they cling to Kihyun, and Changkyun’s eyes burn a little behind his eyelids. 

It makes him fall in love a little.

Especially because there’s no clock, there’s no interruption even when the song flows from _‘Kamikaze’_ to _‘One Foot’,_ which is a little more upbeat but still stupidly overwhelming, makes Changkyun giggle a little and poke at Kihyun’s lips with his tongue before pulling away.

Still, Kihyun just looks at him for a moment, expression open, and then pulls him close again, kisses him and then licks at his lower lip. Still slow, still soft, just a little warmer. Changkyun throws his arms over Kihyun’s shoulders and smiles before parting his lips, pushing his tongue lightly against Kihyun’s and shivering, quite obviously at that, giggling a little again.

Kihyun’s hands move to Changkyun’s hips, lift him up a little and move him closer, over Kihyun’s lap. And then Kihyun just leans back on the bench while still kissing Changkyun, who leans over him, breaks the kiss just to smile at him before ducking forward again.

 _Yeah,_ Changkyun thinks. _It’ll definitely work out_.

\---

They grab egg sandwiches and coffee from 7-Eleven and go back home when the sun peeks over the horizon and begins to hurt their eyes. It’s pretty, though, the pink sky, the marshmallow clouds, Changkyun’s cheeks while he eats, it’s all pretty. 

They arrive home at the same time everyone else in the building starts to leave for work. _Night crawlers, the lot of us._ And, thankfully, Jooheon is asleep in his room. Not that anything is going to happen, really, but it would be weird getting back and just… going to bed with someone else. Even if that someone else is Jooheon.

Kihyun steps out of his clothes and gets something else while Changkyun brushes his teeth and then they swap, just exchanging a little shy glance and looking away. 

It’s fine, though, it’s fine. It’s just all giddy and soft, all of a sudden. Especially, because they kissed for hours non stop without exchanging one single word. And then ate in silence, too.

Kihyun finds the bong in the living room, everything over the table next to it. So, he picks everything up and walks back to his room, closes the door with his foot.

“Still want this?” he asks, shows Changkyun the pink and purple bong, and frowns a little; it feels like he hasn’t talked in ages for some reason.

“Mm?” Changkyun says, looking up from his phone and then down to the bong, putting the phone down on the bedside table and scooching closer to the middle of the bed. “Why the fuck not,” Changkyun smiles, making grabby hands for the bong. “Jooooin meeeee.”

Kihyun snorts and hands it over. “Do you know how to do it?” He points at the bottle of water next to the bed, “There’s water there, pass it over.”

“Nope!” Changkyun says, quite confidently, too, looking around like a confused meerkat for a second before leaning over for the bottle, tossing it over. “Show me.” 

“Alright, hold the bong,” Kihyun scoffs and opens the bottle of water, hands it over as well. 

“I am. That’s good, got step one _down_.”

“Fill it up just a little above where this--” Kihyun points, “Can you see the downstem? Just a little above that.”

Changkyun lifts the bong, throws water in until he nods, lowering it again. “And the weed goes in here, right?” He asks, pointing at the little bowl leading into the bottom of the bong.

“Yeah, but don’t pack it too tight, ‘cause it might clog.”

Changkyun smiles at him, puts weed onto the folded piece of cardboard before carefully letting it slide into the bowl. “See? I’m a professional.”

“I might just…” Kihyun blinks, “Have fallen in love a little. Wow. Alright,” he laughs, grabs the lighter and hands it over. “Hold the bong and light the grass.”

“ _The grass_ ,” Changkyun imitates, face red, laughing before closing his mouth over the top of the bong and sucking as he lights the weed, lifts the bowl.

“Also, careful, it makes _a lot of smoke--”_

Changkyun pulls away, mouth closed tightly, smoke coming out the top of the bong that he hands over just as he starts laughing and coughing. “Jesus,” he wheezes through a coughed out laugh. “Christ.”

Kihyun laughs, “Tell me if it’s too hot, I’ll get some ice cubes…”

“It’s fine,” Changkyun says, voice raspy, waving a hand and puffing out a little smoke as he speaks. “Holy shit on a pogostick, that was-- _A lot_ , I think I’m already fucking high, Jesus.”

“This weed kicks a little and this works a lot faster than a joint so…” Kihyun laughs, turns the bong around and takes the lighter from Changkyun’s hand-- _he’s going to burn the house down, I feel it._

“You do it now,” Changkyun says, fist pressed against his forehead, smiling widely at him with pink cheeks and watery eyes. ”Suck it,” he says and then giggles, falling backwards on the bed, legs still crossed.

Kihyun rolls his eyes. _Cute as fuck, goddamn it._ He lights it and inhales the smoke, just enough. By now he already knows what’s comfortable.

Slowly, he moves closer to straddle Changkyun and says, “Sit up and open your mouth.”

Changkyun raises an eyebrow--just the one, quite perfectly, at that--and pushes himself up to his elbows, chin tilted up as he looks at Kihyun.

“When I blow at you, breathe in,” Kihyun says, takes a smoke and leans closer, lips brushing against Changkyun’s before breathing out into Changkyun’s mouth, barely touching him.

Changkyun leans his head back and takes a moment before he exhales, looks to Kihyun again and sits up enough to brush his lips against Kihyun’s. It makes Kihyun’s head swim a little and he’s not sure if it’s the weed or Changkyun’s effect on him.

“Not to be me, but,” Changkyun breathes, voice low, deeper than usual. “That was really fucking hot.”

“You think,” Kihyun mumbles, tilts his head up just enough to make their noses brush, “You’re the only one who can go all sexy on me?"

Changkyun bites his lip, smiling with one side of his mouth. “Never said that…”

“Great,” Kihyun says, kisses Changkyun’s nose. “Then here’s food for thought. One day, whenever, you’ll have this,” Kihyun wiggles the bong a little, “And I’ll give you a blowjob, not the drinkable one, or, well, _depends…_ But I digress, and it will be the best feeling of your fucking life, literally.”

Changkyun's breath literally hitches when he breathes in, eyes dark on Kihyun. “You,” Changkyun says and groans, letting his head hang for a second before throwing it back again with a whine. “You can’t just say that! Oh my goooood...”

“I can,” Kihyun laughs, ears warm, “And I will. You fucking flaunted it in front of my face. It’s payback time!”

“ _You_ only got a semi,” Changkyun whines, looks down to his crotch and whines again. “That’s not a semi, you asshole.”

“I hadn’t gotten to the asshole part, though--”

Changkyun cuts him off with a laugh and a kiss, worms the bong out of Kihyun’s fingers. “Mine.”

Kihyun blinks and frowns. “I feel cheated.”

“I was talking about you,” Changkyun says, pulling Kihyun down with him as he puts the bong down on the floor by the bed and presses their lips together again, licking into his mouth.

Kihyun shivers a little, whines softly too before remembering he’s supposed to kiss back. It’s a lot better like this, though. The bong doesn’t dry his mouth as much as a joint would so he can kiss Changkyun without needing to pause.

Although…

“You’re hard…” Kihyun mumbles against Changkyun’s lips and then giggles when apparently, at the mention of it, he actually _feels_ it move.

“ _That_ ,” Changkyun says, fingers sneaking in under Kihyun’s shirt. “Is entirely your fault.”

“I’ll take it as a compliment,” Kihyun says, knows he’d be a lot more nervous about this if his brain wasn’t riding a fluffy marshmallow across the Pacific at the moment.

Changkyun giggles, hands on the skin at Kihyun’s sides, leaning back to look at him and smile, eyes soft. “I really like you a lot, Ki…”

Kihyun’s chest doesn’t go warm because it’s already burning like the sun, but it’s such a weird thing to _feel_ words instead of hearing them. So, even if Changkyun won’t feel it the same way Kihyun did, he still says, “I really like you, too, dummy…” and leans forward to press his lips on Changkyun’s forehead. 

Changkyun giggles again. “Yay… Please keep doing that, it’s aaaaawesome...”

Kihyun giggles and smooches Changkyun’s face all over, makes him laugh and squirm under him, before Changkyun brings his legs up to cling to him. 

“Gotcha!”

“It’s venom!” Kihyun says, falls onto his side, face close to Changkyun, who still clings like a leech. “Oh nooooo…!”

Changkyun laughs and flips them over completely so he is on top, leaning in to kiss Kihyun’s neck. “Nom. Time to feast.”

“When did you turn into a vam--” Kihyun shivers. _God…_ “Vampire?”

“I’m not,” Changkyun says, muffled with the way his lips are pressed to Kihyun’s neck. “S’payback,” he says, just as he nips at the skin.

Kihyun sighs but it turns into a soft whine. “You’re gonna bruise it, aren’t you…”

Changkyun cackles before sucking at the skin, a hand to Kihyun’s stomach, scratching softly. “Shoft…” Changkyun mumbles against his skin as he mouths at it.

Kihyun’s stomach tugs and he groans when his lower abdomen feels all tingly, every fiber of his body suddenly wanting that hand _way_ lower. “You’re--I’m going to kill you.”

“An eye for an eye,” Changkyun giggles, said hand moving down to his upper thigh, squeezing. “A hickey for a boner.”

Kihyun frowns. “You--Alright, that’s it--” he groans softly, reaches for Changkyun’s hips and pulls him down to grind on him. His brain fizzles more than a little when he does, though, especially when Changkyun moans, head falling from sucking on Kihyun’s skin to just press his face into his shoulder, gripping tightly at his leg and gasping when he rolls his hips.

It wasn’t exactly planned, but Kihyun’s brain is still riding that fluffy marshmallow somewhere in the middle of the Pacific. So, Kihyun brings one leg up and hooks it over Changkyun’s lower back, spreading just a little and moving against him.

Changkyun moves back to press his forehead against Kihyun’s, breath hot against Kihyun’s lips as he rolls his hips down and falters, falling against Kihyun’s chest, hand on his chest coming up to grip into his hair. “Ki…”

Kihyun brings his leg down to the side and reaches down with his hands, sneaks them into Changkyun’s sweatpants and grabs at his ass over his boxers, pulling him closer. “If it’s not okay, let me know…” Kihyun mumbles in a whisper.

Changkyun shivers. “If you stop I’ll kill you,” he breathes and laughs a little.

“With what, your massive snake dick?”

Changkyun laughs again but it breaks off in a hiss when Kihyun feels said dick rub against his own even through all the clothing. 

“Kiss me,” Kihyun says, moves his hands up just enough to sneak them under Changkyun’s boxers and grab at his ass again. _It’s such a smooth ass, what the fuck..._

Changkyun tenes under his hands, lifts his head and looks at Kihyun for a heated moment before kissing him, moaning softly into his mouth and sneaking his own hand down Kihyun’s stomach, scratching at the hair at the base of his dick.

It feels a lot and Kihyun can’t help but dig his (very short) nails into Changkyun’s skin a little, scratching at his asscheeks before pulling him to the side and turning to him.

It wasn’t planned, but now they might as well, right?

So, Kihyun cups at Changkyun’s crotch and kisses him, sneaks his fingers into Changkyun’s underwear and feels the wet tip of Changkyun’s dick poke against his fingertips.

Changkyun is… _smooth._ And Kihyun totally takes advantage of that, hand moving in and touching whatever he can reach, all the way down to Changkyun’s balls and back up to the base of his dick. Changkyun whines into his mouth as he does, moving his own hand to grip tightly at Kihyun’s dick, near the tip.

Kihyun has barely tasted any of this and yet he still says, because he knows, “You’re addicting as hell…” against Changkyun’s mouth. Quite literally, _who needs weed when I’ve got you…_ If he has anything at all.

Changkyun opens his eyes (barely, really) to look at Kihyun, eyebrows knitting together before he leans in, kisses Kihyun far too softly for the situation in hand. _In hand… Right_.

Kihyun sort of loses himself in it. He doesn’t really know where it starts and where it ends, he doesn’t even know what the fuck is happening, he just sort of _feels_ it. But when he comes back to his senses(and comes with what feels like _all_ his senses), totally high on Changkyun (not weed, just Changkyun), they’re just looking at each other, breathing into each other’s mouths.

“I…” Kihyun blinks, tries, blinks again and then sighs, “I’m so fucking into you… You’re either gonna make me happy as fuck or break my heart in tiny little pieces...”

Changkyun presses his forehead against Kihyun’s and smiles, clean hand cupping at his face. “Ditto,” he says and then giggles, face red.

“That’s a Pokémon…”

Changkyun laughs even more, pressing his face into Kihyun’s shoulder. “Sh--Shut up, ditto is a word!”

“Yes,” Kihyun laughs because Changkyun is laughing, “It is! But it’s a Pokémon!”

Changkyun takes a breath, leans back and looks at Kihyun very seriously before he says, in the highest pitch he’s ever heard come out of Changkyun’s mouth; “Pika pika.”

“Oh. My. God,” Kihyun snorts, reaches over with his clean hand to pinch at Changkyun’s cheek, “That’s annoyingly adorable.”

Changkyun giggles and plops down again, cheek to Kihyun’s chest. “This is the best day of my life, I swear…”

“Aish, don’t make me emo…”

Changkyun squeezes him, nuzzling into his chest. “It ish,” Changkyun slurs. “I’m--” Changkyun giggles. “Really fucking into you, too. I think I said that. Did I say that? Bleh.”

Kihyun snorts, squeezes Changkyun a little and feels half of his heart split from the other half and make its way to Changkyun’s hands. 

If this is what falling in love with this boy feels like, then maybe Kihyun doesn’t mind if his heart ends up broken into tiny little pieces. And if it goes wrong? He’ll just take a little longer to put it all back together.

“We should… go wash our hands and… sensitive bits,” Kihyun mumbles.

“Just take me outside and hose me down like a dog.”

“Yes, yes, baby,” Kihyun says as he sits up with Changkyun.

“You called me that in the bathroom when I was crying,” Changkyun mumbles, smiling softly, eyes more closed than open.

Kihyun frowns and looks down. “Well… It was… yeah. Maybe I did...”

“I liked it,” Changkyun says. “Made me feel safe for some reason…”

Kihyun blinks slowly at their laps and then pushes Changkyun away just enough to cup at his face with the clean hand and lean in to kiss his lips, “Let’s get washed up and sleep. Okay, baby?”

“Okay,” Changkyun smiles and smacks his lips, looks around to move to the side of the bed and stand up, just… stands there, hands out as if for balance. “Catch me if I fall, yeah?” 

“Always…” Kihyun mumbles, blinks when he realizes what he just said and glances away. It’s not like he doesn’t mean it so he doesn’t take it back. Still… It feels… _Ever kiss someone and realize you don’t want to kiss anyone else ever again?_ “Yeah…”

Kihyun gets up, pokes Changkyun’s butt and then rushes to the door, knowing well enough that Jooheon is either snoring like a pig or cursing them for being loud. _Serves you right, for… no reason at all._

“Race you to the bathroom!” Kihyun scoffs even though he totally has the headstart.

Changkyun falls quite spectacularly the moment he starts running, but just laughs and picks himself up, losing the race by what Kihyun can only guess is a full three minutes.

“You guys are so fucking loud!” Jooheon shouts from his bedroom.

“It’s the demogorgon!” Kihyun yells, splashes water from the running tap at Changkyun.

“It’s peeing on me!” Changkyun squeals.

“Kihyun is peeing on you?!” Jooheon shouts and Kihyun just falls down laughing, and Changkyun seems to catch up, screams.

“No! Jooheon!”

“What?!”

“Ew!”

“I don’t judge!”

“Fuck you, I do!”

“Aish,” Kihyun laughs, “I love you guys.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Home and family exist where the heart is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, safe sex is sexy, never forget! Don't get reckless!!!

Everyone knows the cliches.

Love at first sight. Changing someone from unlikeable to loveable. The evil rival. The love triangle. The tragic main character death. But the thing about cliches is that they don’t take people very far. And maybe it fits when writing a short story, maybe a stripper and a bartender together are a cliche on their own. But there’s more to life than that. There’s more to people than that.

It’s interesting, because Changkyun has a job where none of that really matters; depth? Who needs it. His job is about one, simple thing, completely focused on what people can actually see, so it’s interesting, because he works with the one person he thinks has managed to see beyond all that. 

It’s interesting, more interesting than cliches have any right to be but… it’s also a little scary, how ‘too good to be true’ all of this feels. But maybe that’s just it; maybe Kihyun just _is_ all those things Changkyun thought would be too good to be true.

“Can I pay you to seduce one of the other guys there?” a girl asks, and that, too, sounds _far_ too good to be true. Because Kihyun is ‘one of the other guys there’, right? Right. Maybe Ladies’ Night isn’t _entirely_ unendurable.

“Him?” Changkyun asks, tilting his head over to the bar, where Kihyun is serving a row of colourful shots. He looks good, hair styled away from his face, short with an undercut, golden eyeshadow, black t-shirt’s sleeves curled up to his shoulders. But then again, he always looks good. He looks all dark and handsome, where Changkyun has opted for sexy and light, wearing all white lace, with his newly dyed blonde hair and black nails. It’s a new look, and it’s been getting him a _lot_ of positive attention. It’s also ridiculously easy to switch between this edgy, sexy look, and the soft, pastel boyfriend aesthetic.

The girl’s eyes light up and she nods, excitedly. _Amazing_. She seems to just empty her wallet, too, there and then, handing the money over before Changkyun winks and saunters (yes, saunters) over to the bar. He leans over, tugs lightly at the white, silk choker around his throat and smiles, waits for Kihyun to notice him, the money tucked safely into his pocket.

The best thing about Kihyun? Well. There are far too many good things about Kihyun and they overlap, taking first place all together. But _the best thing about Kihyun_ is that he’s squishy, but toned. So, when he lifts his hand a little bit to sprinkle the row shots with some edible glitter, his arm flexes and Changkyun mourns to himself.

“Think they’ll be shitting glitter in a few hours?” Jooheon asks nearby, eyes on the shots the people are now throwing down their throats. He wipes at the counter and then glances at Changkyun. “Can I get you anything or are you just here to admire?”

“A little bit of both,” Changkyun sing songs, winking at Jooheon before eyeing Kihyun up and down. 

“Right in front of my salad,” Jooheon scoffs. “I should be used to it by now, I suppose. Here,” he places a Cosmopolitan in front of Changkyun, “Have fun.”

Kihyun collects the row of empty shots and turns around to dump them all in the sink behind him before glancing over his shoulder and smiling a little when he catches Changkyun’s eye.

 _Seduce, was it_?

Changkyun leans over the counter, wrapping his lips around the straw of the cosmopolitan as he keeps watching Kihyun, who just raises an eyebrow and looks away to finish rinsing the glasses. Changkyun looks over his shoulder at the girl (now within her pack of other girls, dear god) and winks. Kihyun puts the glasses inside the washing machine and gives a quick glance at the end of the bar before looking at Changkyun again and walking towards him.

“What are you up to right now, little devil?” Kihyun asks, giving Changkyun a knowing look.

“Seducing you,” Changkyun grins, moving the glass to the side. “I’m gonna get on the counter.”

Kihyun’s eyes move to the counter and then up to Changkyun in the most comically unimpressed look ever. “Alright…”

Changkyun pouts playfully, stepping on one of the barstools until he’s sitting on the counter. “Kiiiiiiii, I’m _seducing_ you. Seducing!”

Kihyun shifts all of his weight to one leg and crosses his arms, one eyebrow climbing on his forehead. He licks his lips and glances at Jooheon, who’s pretending he’s not seeing or hearing any of it. “Is it good money?” Kihyun asks, looking back to Changkyun.

“Literally enough for half of my textbooks,” Changkyun says, and pouts again. 

Kihyun tongues at the corner of his lips, eyes narrowing. He doesn’t pause for long, though, slowly reaching out to curl a finger around the silk of Changkyun’s white choker and tugging so Changkyun leans closer, stopping him but a breath away.

“Seduce me, then,” Kihyun says, eyes considerably soft for the situation at hand.

Changkyun licks his lips, bringing his legs up to pull Kihyun closer, glancing at the girl with a small smile (it’s part of the act, after all) before back to Kihyun’s lips. He leans in, biting at Kihyun’s bottom lip and pulling back before he lets go, pressing his hips flush to Kihyun.

Kihyun’s eyebrows furrow a little in that way Changkyun knows so well by now. It happens whenever Kihyun is lowkey frustrated, either because Changkyun is being cute or sexy. And turns out Kihyun is never too difficult to convince whenever it’s something Changkyun related. It makes Changkyun’s chest feel oddly warm, makes him feel… special.

Slowly, Kihyun lets go of Changkyun’s choker, barely touching Changkyun’s collarbone before his hand drops to Changkyun’s thigh. It makes him want to giggle for some reason, but that’s not what this is _about_. And while doing this all that time ago with Wonho had just been… uncomfortable, this is sort of thrilling.

“Your turn to put on a show,” Changkyun mumbles close to Kihyun’s lips.

“Theater is not really my thing,” Kihyun mumbles, almost chuckles, but slides his hands up Changkyun’s thighs, all the way back to his ass to pull him even closer, “You’re lucky I like you this much.” And with that, Kihyun smiles a little and licks Changkyun’s lips. 

Changkyun’s brain cells fizzle, doesn’t really care who’s watching anymore (funny, seeing as that’s the point) and clings, arms up around Kihyun’s shoulders, legs holding him close and Changkyun _swears_ he can hear that girl squealing not so far away.

A soft hand moves up Changkyun’s lower back, fingertips sneaking under the crop top until they can’t reach up anymore. Changkyun sighs, arching into Kihyun and throwing his head back, and Kihyun seems to take advantage of that to kiss his neck, slowly mouthing all the way down to the curve of his shoulder.

It’s obvious, because Changkyun catches Kihyun’s eyes linger past him, that Kihyun was looking at the girls while he did that. And while they might think that’s part of the show (it would be in Changkyun’s case), with Kihyun it’s just a possessive little way of saying ‘mine’. 

Changkyun’s chest goes tight for a second, so he reaches out, lifts his head and grips at Kihyun’s hair into an open mouthed kiss, which Kihyun sighs into, nails scratching down Changkyun’s back.

It’s dizzying, still, even now, how light headed Changkyun feels whenever Kihyun kisses him like the world is ending and this is all there is. So, Changkyun needs to blink himself back when he hears Kihyun say, “Open your mouth,” and something cold presses against his lower lip.

_Is that… ice?_

Changkyun shivers, opens his mouth and sneaks a kittenish lick at the ice block, eyes on Kihyun, who just gives him a far too dark look for the place they’re at and ducks down to kiss his neck, tracing the ice over Changkyun’s bottom lip and then down his jaw and the other side of his neck. It leaves little tingles in its wake, a small shiver down Changkyun’s spine.

“Later I’ll show you the rest,” Kihyun mumbles, lips against Changkyun’s skin. 

“You better,” Changkyun gasps softly, having _quite_ a lot of problems with blinking himself back into the present. When he opens his eyes, head to the side, he spots both Jooheon and Minhyuk just gaping at them.

Changkyun reaches out for Kihyun’s shirt to stabilise himself, to pull himself closer again. He sees Kihyun moves the ice cube away and into his own mouth, making it go away with a loud crunch as he looks at something past Changkyun, _again._

When he does look at Changkyun, though, Kihyun’s eyes are soft and he leans into a soft kiss.

“I love this job,” Changkyun mumbles with a small giggle that he quickly masks against Kihyun’s lips, hands up to cup at Kihyun’s cheeks.

“Should I be jealous?” Kihyun mumbles, nose soothing against Changkyun’s cheek.

“Never.”

\---

It’s not always that easy, though.

Today Kihyun has to serve someone who is literally doing their best to flirt with Changkyun. They asked for a Manhattan--it’s been a while since anyone has asked for one of those. So, Kihyun fetches the sweet vermouth and the rye and pretends he’s not listening, even though they’re literally in front of him.

“Can I get you anything, handsome?” the guy asks, reaching up to pick up a loose strand of Changkyun’s blonde hair and tuck it at the back of his ear. It’s long enough now to do that very easily.

Changkyun smiles small, glancing at Kihyun. He’s a little sweaty, still running on the high of his performance a few minutes ago. Kihyun hopes that he doesn’t look like much when his eyes catch Changkyun’s, hopes that he looks like the casual bartender who just glanced at one of the strippers and thought absolutely nothing of it.

“A Martini, please,” Changkyun says to Kihyun, before turning in his chair to smile at the guy and say, “Thank you. Did you like the performance?”

“You’re welcome,” the guy says, and smiles. It doesn’t help that he’s actually quite handsome, dark hair combed back, teeth that could glint if there was any light. “I did, I did. Was waiting for you to finish, actually.”

Kihyun finishes preparing the Manhattan and places it over the counter. “How dirty do you want your Martini?” he asks, barely glancing at Changkyun and already pulling at the nearest bottle of gin.

Changkyun keeps his smile on the man. Kihyun knows why; give them attention and they’ll give him money. “Not too dirty, just enough to be interesting,” Changkyun says, tilting his head. “I haven’t seen you around here before…”

Kihyun glances over his shoulder to look at the bottle of olives and tries not to sigh too loudly. _That’s nearly empty._

“First time,” the guy says. “Not doing this, just… doing this _here._ You seem rather young. I hope this place keeps you in check. I don’t want to get in trouble. No offense, by the way.”

Changkyun narrows his eyes, playful. “I can handle myself, don’t you worry about that.”

The guy looks Changkyun up and down with an eyebrow raised and the scoffs a laugh. “Ohoh? Cocky? I’m starting to like you.”

“Wouldn’t get very far in this line if work if I wasn’t cocky,” Changkyun teases.

“In more ways than one, I assume,” the guy says as he brings up his drink to hide a grin.

Changkyun winks, tongue catching between his teeth. “And here I thought you watched my show…” Changkyun tilts his head, pouts. “Were you not paying attention?”

“So that wasn’t a trick of the light? Damn. I’m impressed!”

Kihyun stabs the olive--one single olive, _how weak--_ and garnishes the Martini with it before placing it over the counter. _Clean, clean, clean,_ he thinks as he starts putting the bottle away.

Typically, he would run away, stay away from it all. But something about _today_ roots his feet right where they are. It’s not like he doesn’t know, because he does know. He quite literally signed up for this. But maybe some days are easier. Maybe some people are easier. Today and this person are neither of those cases. It’s literally an internal fight between wanting to stay and wanting to go.

Changkyun giggles--vaguely, Kihyun is aware that it’s not his real giggle--and rolls a shoulder, casual, shirt falling down, tattoos peaking out. “Uhm… Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” the guy says, scoffing again. “Thank yourself. And genes? Not everyone is that lucky. Or unlucky. Depends.”

Kihyun almost starts to roll his eyes but stops just in time. _Size isn’t everything._

Changkyun reaches for the martini, tongues quite obviously at the olive before taking it into his mouth. “So…” Changkyun smiles, taking a small sip. “Is talking all you want to do?”

The guy leans a little closer and props his chin over the palm of his hand, eyes narrowing on Changkyun’s. “Depends. I like to know what I’m paying for, usually. And while I’m already aware of what you bring to the table, I still don’t know how I might enjoy that. So, if you’d be so kind as to explain to me how this establishment works, maybe I’d tip you a little for that… and then we’d see.”

Kihyun puts the flask of olives back in its place and turns to walk away when someone leans into the bar--his side of the bar-- barely a step or two away from Changkyun and his hypothetical client (for now). Kihyun almost feels like groaning.

Almost.

Changkyun licks his lips. “I can do that… Amongst a lot of other things. Depends on how much you’re willing to spend but… I can dance for you, alone. If we go to the back, you can touch, too,” Changkyun smiles, playful. “We do body shots, too, if you like that.”

“Just a coke with rum, please,” the girl who just leaned over asks. Kihyun almost pleads for something more complicated so he can keep his brain busy. But then again, he almost feels pathetic when he actually thinks about it, all of it.

A rum and coke is literally just… rum and coke. How boring. Typical drink for someone who doesn’t plan on getting drunk, even if that’s just a temporary decision.

“Then,” the guy says, looking away from Changkyun to take another sip of his drink. “Hm. What’s the cheapest thing you can do? And also, what’s the most expensive one?”

“The cheapest is I get mostly naked and sit on your lap for a while,” Changkyun says, manages to make it sound horribly appealing. “The most expensive,” Changkyun says, leaning in, voice dropping lower. “I take you to the back, take off all my clothes and dance for you... touch you, if you like... and you can touch me, too. _Just_ about everything on display, but enough, I promise,” Changkyun grins, reaching out to run a finger over the man’s jaw.

Kihyun places the girl’s drink over the counter and turns around to grab a glass for himself. It’s just one of those days, so he might as well. Whatever helps with the hungry demon people call jealousy that eats and eats away and just makes people angry, mixed with a little bit of sad, just a dab of self-loathing.

“Then, finish your drink, handsome,” the guy says, “I’m taking you for the rest of the night.”

Changkyun looks surprised when Kihyun turns around to put the bottle back after serving himself a full glass, but of course, pleasantly so. Why wouldn’t he be, it’s a shitton of money. The only thing more expensive is making out with one of the other strippers, but… that’s not exactly popular among men, just women, so it makes sense for Changkyun not to mention it. 

Kihyun takes a drink and smiles small at the group of guys that approaches the bar. They look happy, fairly intoxicated-- _good job, Joo--_ but still within check.

Changkyun throws the martini back, smirking salaciously as he hops off the stool, puts the glass down and takes the man’s hand, leading him to the private rooms at the back of the club. The man walks in, and for a moment, Changkyun looks at the bar, an odd expression on his face before he follows after.

The group of guys asks for the most complicated drinks displayed on the board over their heads. It makes Kihyun smile and laugh a little, too. Mostly because they fight over who gets to ask for the drink with the most complicated name, even though they can barely say it.

When they’re gone, though, Kihyun sighs and looks down, bringing his glass of rum up to his lips. He knows he can’t keep his eyes down, but it’s also a way to keep them away from where they want to be.

He’s witnessed people telling Changkyun things he wouldn’t fathom saying himself. Outright dirty things, objectifying things. He’s also heard people tell Changkyun that he’s the most beautiful thing they’d ever seen, which Kihyun has to agree with. And it’s not like this is the first time Kihyun has been bothered by something, but it’s the first time it’s bothered him this much.

It sucks to feel even just a little bit inferior over something like this.

“Hey,” Jooheon says next to him after an incalculable moment. “You okay, dude?”

Kihyun glances over and then away. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He takes a sip of his rum. “Mind if I go outside for a bit?”

“Not at all,” Jooheon says, thumb over his shoulder to point at the cabinet where they keep their weed. “Need a hit or?”

“Yeah,” Kihyun mumbles vaguely as he puts the glass down, eyes on the small crowd that keeps bouncing. It’s mostly a blur, with how little attention he spares it. “Shout if you need me,” he says, and Jooheon opens the cabinet, hands over a joint with a smile and a nod before moving back to the other side of the bar as someone approaches it.

The door to the private room stays closed. It’s going to be closed for a while. The whole night, apparently. So, Kihyun goes outside and tries not to think about it, tries not to be angry or sad, tries not to think about how sometimes Changkyun comes by smelling like someone else, tries to think about happy things instead. Because at the end of the day he’s the one Changkyun says ‘I adore you’ to, the one Changkyun cuddles up to and trusts and talks to about every little thing. At the end of the day, he’s the one Changkyun goes home with. At the end of the day, if sunrises can be an end of the day, too, Kihyun is the one Changkyun makes love to.

\---

While Changkyun has certainly snatched himself quite a lot of money and a regular to go with that assurance, the man is also annoying. Not overtly, not in any way that should really annoy Changkyun, just in the way where it seems the man thinks he has any conceivable shot at something more with Changkyun. It’s annoying, because of fucking _course_ he doesn’t, but Changkyun has to pretend that maybe, just maybe, he does. There’s more money that way.

There’s only so much Changkyun can do for hours on end, but that doesn’t stop the man from touching whatever Changkyun allows, from talking about things Changkyun only pretends to hear, from telling him things that fall into hollowness with how little they mean, if they mean anything at all.

The worst part is that even though this is work, even though Changkyun is fully aware of it, there’s always this little hurt that comes along with knowing he’s hurting someone he cares about, even when they tried their best not to show it.

When it’s over, the club is practically empty and Changkyun takes the man to Sunmi to pay, makes sure he pays what he should. Sunmi looks impressed. Changkyun always loves when Sunmi looks impressed. And right before the man leaves, Changkyun kisses his cheek and tells him to come back soon.

All in a day’s work. Right? _Sigh_.

Changkyun makes a detour to the bathroom, spreading some water over his arms, his chest, his neck. And once he walks out to find Kihyun--because he needs to, he wants to, and selfishly, he just really, really _needs_ to--it takes him a moment to do that. His heart still stutters when he does, though, rushing forward as fast as he can without bringing attention to himself.

Kihyun and Jooheon are just squinting at two bottles. Jooheon is squinting so much he looks like he’s sleeping. Kihyun, on the other hand, is squinting and frowning, but he looks up when he hears someone (Changkyun) walk by.

Changkyun doesn’t say anything, doesn’t really have to, just looks at Kihyun with a longing that yells, ‘ _Please’,_ before slipping out the back. He doesn’t stop looking at the door. But it still takes a moment, no matter how short, that stretches into a thousand moments before the door opens and Kihyun slips through. He doesn’t seem to notice Changkyun just standing there, though, so he startles a little when he looks up and meets eyes with him.

“What are you doing, creeping in the hall like this,” Kihyun says, eyes a little wide. “You scared the shit out of me, ghost…”

Changkyun laughs, reaching out to take Kihyun’s hand, and squints at his face once he’s closer. “Not my fault you’re high.”

Kihyun makes a face and then goes, “Pffft. I’m not _high.”_

“Sounds like something a high person with stop signs for eyes would say.”

Kihyun opens his mouth to say something, probably something witty, considering, but words just get lost and he puffs his breath before whispering with all the remaining air in his lungs; “Are you a car?”

Changkyun rolls his eyes fondly, tugging at Kihyun’s hand to bring him even closer. “Why, wanna drive somewhere?”

Kihyun raises both eyebrows. “Is that a ride joke or am I not getting this right?” He blinks, though, and lifts one finger before pressing it against Changkyun’s lips. “But wait, if I’m a stop sign… How are we getting anywhere?”

Changkyun laughs, smiling against Kihyun’s finger. “We’ll figure something out…” Changkyun moves a strand of hair out of Kihyun’s eyes, pouting despite the warmth in his chest. Such an easy warmth, with Kihyun around. “Can I ask you to do something for me later?”

“Hmmmmmmmmmm,” Kihyun narrows his eyes and sways a little before tilting closer, forehead brushing against Changkyun’s. “Yes…”

Changkyun smiles soft. _I love him, don’t I?_

“Touch me everywhere,” Changkyun whispers. 

Kihyun leans back just a little. “Everywhere?” he asks, a little high pitched.

Changkyun giggles. “Oh, god, where did you mind just go… I don’t even know if I wanna know...”

“My mind went literally everywhere.”

“Glad you’re getting ideas,” Changkyun smiles, leaning forward for a small peck as he drapes his arms over Kihyun’s shoulders.

It’s warm when Kihyun nuzzles in, softly, like a cat greeting someone they like. Warmer when Kihyun presses his lips on the side of Changkyun’s nose and kisses him. And then again when he talks and Changkyun feels warmth on his skin, too.

“Are you tired from today?”

“In some ways more than others.”

“Too tired for sex?”

“Did you _not_ hear me literally ten seconds ago--”

“I can touch you everywhere without having sex with you,” Kihyun says as he leans back and wiggles his eyebrows. “I’m that good.”

Changkyun scoffs a small laugh and shoves playfully at Kihyun’s chest. “Do that another time. I’m eager to find out, but it’s one of those days where I _desperately_ need to get fucked into a mattress. I’m literally kind of begging here.”

Kihyun shivers a little. “Wow… I felt that in more ways than one…”

Changkyun smiles and kisses Kihyun’s cheek softly. “That’s good… Sometimes I kind of hate this job, too. But it’s okay.” Changkyun leans back, pouts. “Right?”

When Kihyun looks at him, he looks more sober than he has during this entire interaction. He glances away for a moment before looking back. “Yeah. It’s more than okay.”

Changkyun smiles small, a little hopeful, really. “One day I’m gonna be a scientist, you know…”

“Hm, yes.” Kihyun pulls Changkyun closer and kisses his forehead. “I know. And then I’ll have to fight every scientist with my half neuron. That is, considering Joo hasn’t taken over my half…”

Changkyun scoffs, brushing his nose over Kihyun’s like an eskimo kiss. “Nah, baby, that’s just the weed.”

“Bet your other scientists can’t make planet pancakes, though,” Kihyun mumbles.

Changkyun barks a laugh. “Are you being _pre_ -jealous right now? Oh my god…”

Kihyun opens his mouth and pauses as he looks up. And then he just nods. “Yes.”

Changkyun narrows his eyes fondly. “You’re kind of stupid, you know.”

“I’m aware. Which is why I have to make sure you know they can’t make you planet pancakes. With little craters, baby, _craters_. Legit stuff.”

 _I love you, I love you, I love you_ \--

“Wait.” Kihyun pauses again and squints. “Do planets have craters…? They do, right?”

“There are literal craters on Earth, baby, so yes, they do.”

“Right?” Kihyun snaps his fingers. “I knew that wasn’t the weed talking!”

“Wanna try some weed kissing?” Changkyun wiggles his eyebrows. “Yes, that was a terrible line but I’m gonna ask nicely that you overlook that because of its intent.”

Kihyun makes the funniest, most adorable face ever--his eyebrows just look broken. “I don’t know what you mean, that was hot as fuck. Yeah,” he turns around and pulls Changkyun with him by the hand. “Let’s go, let’s go--Joo! I’m leaving to do some kissing!”

Changkyun hides a laugh behind his hand. “Where on _earth_ are you taking me for this?” He’s so high. It’s so cute.

“Home,” Kihyun says. “I’m taking you home.”

\---

Sometimes, Kihyun looks out the window, feels the breeze that washes over and runs from the kitchen to the living room where Jooheon and Changkyun are chatting about something, and he thinks that the sky is beautiful, soft pinks, purples and yellows tinting it like watercolour. It makes Kihyun feel calm, makes him want to pause and take a deep breath. It makes him happy, it makes him think ‘I love this’, whatever this is.

But then Changkyun walks into the kitchen, following the scent of the shrimp Kihyun is currently frying for the three of them, and Kihyun feels all those things, too, when he looks at him. It makes him think ‘I love you’. Even more so when he notices the slight edge to Changkyun’s eyes, an anxiety he tries to mask with soft smiles and nervous giggles, but that Kihyun knows to be there.

“It’s your favourite, right?” he asks, smiling a little at Changkyun. “Figured we could wait for 10AM with our stomachs full.”

It’s been a few months, summer is almost over, and Changkyun is waiting to know if he’ll be able to enlist for distance learning. _College._ Something Kihyun never considered for himself, but nonetheless an experience he’s happy to share with someone else, even if all he’s doing is cheering.

Changkyun pulls at his sweater’s sleeves, over his hands, down, and up and over again. “It smells really good,” Changkyun smiles, eyes on the shrimps frying on the pan. “Only you could bring my appetite back from the dead like this.”

Kihyun gestures vaguely at Changkyun’s legs. “You need muscles in those muscles. If I don’t feed you people, y’all wither like flowers with no sun or water.”

Changkyun pouts down at his legs. “I have _muscles_.”

“I know. You almost strangled me last night…”

Changkyun scoffs a laugh, face pink and swatting at him with a sleeve. “Shut up.” He glances towards Jooheon, who is simply laying on the couch now, cats on his chest. He looks so content it’s almost funny. “It was a great study break, gotta admit…”

Kihyun shrugs one shoulder. “Study breaks are free so take as many as you like,” he says, grabs the spatula and moves the shrimps around. “And yes, I meant it the way you got it.”

Changkyun smiles, nudging closer until he’s up behind Kihyun, cheek on his shoulder, arms wiggling around Kihyun to squeeze at his waist. “This is nice, too, though…”

Kihyun feels himself smile. He turns his head just enough to kiss Changkyun’s head and then leans a little on him, eyes on the shrimps. “I know, baby. I know. And… hey. You’ll be alright. You’re the smartest guy I know. I’m sure you did great on your Suneung...”

Changkyun nuzzles, letting out a little breath. “Eight hours… Honestly, that’s just cruel.”

“What’s cruel is that your entire future is decided in those eight hours, according to our society. So, I suppose I don’t have a future,” Kihyun jokes, “Since I never took the damn thing.”

“Oh shush, your future is right here,” Changkyun teases, squeezing Kihyun again. 

Kihyun’s heart skips a beat. “Well… you know what they say; to kill you and me, there would only ever have to be one bullet? So, I suppose you’re right...”

“Who said that?” Changkyun jokes. “Are we being threatened?”

“Jooheon’s salad is a recurring thing,” Kihyun laughs softly. “But I think that’s our only obstacle,” he says, swaying a little from side to side and making Changkyun sway with him.

Changkyun giggles. “No problem, he hasn’t eaten a salad in _months_.”

“Yet he keeps mentioning it. I wonder if I should give him just lettuce while we eat our shrimps...”

“He’ll sulk. I genuinely do not want to deal with Jooheon’s sulking right now.”

Kihyun sighs and lightly bumps his head against Changkyun’s. “Alright, alright. Hey, baby, pass me those plates.”

Changkyun gasps, hand on his chest even as he lets go and reaches for the plates. “Sometimes I forget I’m baby.”

“My baby,” Kihyun says, kissing Changkyun’s lips and taking the plates.

They all get distracted, then; they eat, they talk, Changkyun making himself comfortable on Kihyun’s lap that he uses as a pillow as they watch some silly movie that makes Changkyun giggle every now and then. They get distracted, and Jooheon falls asleep. They almost forget about it, until Changkyun idly reaches for his phone, scrolls and Kihyun feels him perk up just before he sees it.

“Kihyun, it’s twenty past ten,” Changkyun says, eyes wide on his phone.

It’s one of those things, the heart drop that anxiety brings with it. And again, it’s not Kihyun’s college entrance exam, but it could as well be, considering how much Changkyun wants this and how much Kihyun wants this, too, in turn.

“Do you…” Kihyun straightens up and clears his throat. “Do you want me to check for you?”

Changkyun nods, handing over the phone just as he clings to Kihyun’s arm, face pressed into his shoulder. “Please…” 

Kihyun smiles small, kisses Changkyun’s head and glances at the phone as he refreshes the page Changkyun had opened hours ago. Kihyun presses his cheek against the top of Changkyun’s head, heart a little loud in his chest as he scrolls and scrolls and scrolls.

It’s there. Changkyun’s name; Im Changkyun, placed on the first-tier for English and second-tier for the rest of the exam. Which… is really, _really_ good. He could probably get into SKY with a score like this.

Kihyun blinks at the screen, feels a surge of pride but also surprise because-- _how the fuck are you so intelligent…?_

“Is it bad…?” Changkyun asks, clearly nervous.

Again, Kihyun blinks. But this time he takes a breath and just says, “I love you.”

Changkyun lifts his head, blinking wide-eyed at Kihyun. Wide eyes that are clearly on the verge of spilling tears. “Wh… What?”

Kihyun slowly puts the phone down and turns just enough so he’s able to kiss Changkyun. “Tier one and two,” Kihyun mumbles, kisses Changkyun again, “And I’m in love with you.”

A hand comes up to Changkyun’s mouth as he laughs, eyes leaking. “I’m--Oh god, sorry, I’m overwhelmed, I--I love you too…”

Kihyun’s chest feels warm, full, and he smiles a little as he reaches up with both hands and cups at Changkyun’s face, pulling him into a kiss and then over him as he leans back on the couch--kicking at Jooheon in the process, because-- _wake up, idiot, this is important!_

Jooheon grumbles and Changkyun laughs, clinging and laughing and kissing at Kihyun’s face. “I got a tier one?!” he asks, incredulous, laughs again.

“In English,” Kihyun says, kisses Changkyun’s nose. “You international diva, you!”

“Mr. Worldwide,” Jooheon mumbles in his sleep, turning around and falling off the couch with a resounding thud and a soft, “Ow…”

“I love you, I love you, I love you--” Changkyun keeps mumbling between the kisses over Kihyun’s face, and Jooheon groans again.

“My fucking _salad_ , guys.”

Kihyun just giggles, brings his arms around Changkyun and holds him close. “I love you, too, silly baby.”

“I’m gonna study science!”

“You are?” Jooheon asks, eyes squinty as he sits up, before they go wide. Comically so. “You passed?!”

Changkyun aims a very unimpressed look at him. “Wow. The tone of surprise. _Wow_.”

“Ignore him,” Kihyun says, turns Changkyun’s face to him, “Focus on me, I have a face to smooch.”

“Ah, that’s awesome!” Jooheon continues, slowly standing up. “The--the thing, not the smooching,” Jooheon waves dismissively, starts moving towards his room. “Don’t break the couch, you animals.”

Kihyun only sits up with Changkyun so he can grab Jooheon by the arm and pull him closer. “Where do you think you’re going?” Kihyun scoffs. “You’re hugging him, too, he deserves it.”

Jooheon stumbles and falls on top of both of them, yelping. “I’m not into this kinda stuff, have mercy!” 

Changkyun giggles and squirms. “Oh my god, I _am_ burger…”

Kihyun snorts and hooks a leg over both Jooheon and Changkyun to keep them both there. It’s kinda hard to breathe, but it’s worth it. “I’m bread.”

“I’m not high enough for this,” Jooheon scoffs, melting over Changkyun either way.

“If Ladies’ Night could see us now,” Changkyun laughs, smacking a loud smooch against Kihyun’s cheek which makes Jooheon groan.

Kihyun’s nose scrunches and he pokes Changkyun’s cheek with it. “So… now it’s time to make plans, no? We’ll be on holidays next week, but maybe you should bring your things? Your laptop and all, so you can keep an eye on stuff.”

“Right, about that--” Jooheon shifts and Changkyun makes a high pitched noise of distress. “Sorry. Uhm. Mind if I ask Minhyuk to come with?”

“Minhyuk?” Kihyun asks, eyes quickly meeting with Changkyun’s in a mischievous way. “Not at all, right?”

Changkyun winks. “Not at all.”

“I saw that,” Jooheon informs them.

“No you didn’t.”

“Knew you did something! Admit it!”

Changkyun giggles, shifts so Jooheon falls a little to the side, Changkyun nuzzling into Kihyun’s side. “It’s your family’s cottage or whatever, you don’t need to ask _us_ if you can bring _your_ boyfriend.”

“Er!” Jooheon sits up. Kind of. He’s clearly trying. “Not my boyfriend!”

“Yet,” Kihyun whispers into Changkyun’s ear.

“Yeet,” Changkyun giggles, watching Jooheon spartle off the couch. His hair is _so messy_. 

“We…” Jooheon puffs, a lock of hair lifting before falling onto his forehead again. “ _Shall see_.”

“Ooooh,” Kihyun jokes, clinging to Changkyun with both arms and legs, “The suspense is killing me.”

Jooheon rolls his eyes, smiles over at Changkyun. “Well done, little bro. Knew you could do it.”

Changkyun pouts, and Kihyun feels him give Kihyun’s arm a little squeeze. “Thanks…”

“We’ll talk to Sunmi about your shifts and stuff for when you start studying, so don’t worry about that, yeah? But that’s only April, so you can make a bunch more money before then.”

Kihyun smiles a little, reaches up to curl some of Changkyun’s hair behind his ear. By the time Jooheon walks away, Kihyun squeezes Changkyun tight and cups at his face to look up at him.

_So fucking beautiful._

“You’re the smartest, most handsome, sexiest, cutest, softest, smoothest guy on Earth,” Kihyun says, giving Changkyun’s cheek a big smooch, “And I’m the fucking luckiest.”

Changkyun looks at him with those big, open eyes that can never hide a single emotion, and pouts, in that way Kihyun knows he can’t ever really help doing. “I… I’ve not had the best life, you know? But I’m happy for the life I’ve been given, because it led to you…”

Kihyun giggles a little and nuzzles in, “And to some motherfuckin’ good marks, too, goddamn it. I’m so proud of you, baby.”

Changkyun giggles, squeezing. “Honestly? Me fucking too.”

“Good. Now…” Kihyun wiggles both eyebrows. “Who’s taking who to bed?”

Changkyun lifts his head, grinning mischievously. “Is that a euphemism for something?”

“It’s whatever you want, baby, your wish is my command, today.”

“Mm,” Changkyun hums, sliding off the couch and hooking his arms in under Kihyun’s legs, around his waist to pick him up. “Feel like getting wrecked?”

Kihyun bites at his lower lip as he shifts and lets Changkyun lift him up, legs quickly wrapping around Changkyun’s waist, arms over his shoulders. “Why? Miss my voice?” Kihyun mumbles, lips brushing against Changkyun’s neck.

“Always.”

\---

The sand is the humble star of the scene. It’s the most gentle hue of gold, almost earthen and muted. Kihyun loves this beach. He loves the driftwood that comes upon the buoyant waves as tiny rescue boats. And then there’s the occasional seaweed, as deeply green as any high summer foliage. But the best part? The best part is the scent of the ocean that the gusting breeze brings about, the cold water washing at his feet as he walks over the mirror of water a wave just left behind.

In Kihyun’s right hand, his and Changkyun’s flip flops. In his left hand, Changkyun’s own, Changkyun himself walking closer to the sea. 

The cold water laps at their feet, fizzing and bubbling like a brine. All Changkyun does is giggle. And Kihyun smiles a little, eyes on the horizon.

“Maybe you could do weekends and Wednesdays,” he suggests, glancing over to gauge a reaction. “And then from there see what fits best…? You’d still be getting money and… you’d have time for yourself.”

Changkyun smiles down at the water, jumping as if up and over it. “Still need to pay rent and college and stuff, though.”

“Yeah, but…” Kihyun stops, tugs at Changkyun’s hand to make him stop and turn to him. “If you dump the shoe box and move in for good, then… not much money wasted. And hey, I’d love to help, if you let me.”

Changkyun stops, looks at him, eyes going between Kihyun’s eyes. “I…” Changkyun’s shoulders melt and his eyes go soft, so does his voice. “You really do love me, don’t you…” 

Kihyun frowns a little and tilts his head. “Yeah? Of course I do…” He pulls Changkyun closer, pouting a little. “What kind of question is that…?”

“An honest one,” Changkyun says, voice small. “It’s… It’s not like I don’t believe you, I’m just…” Changkyun leans back and smiles, eyes shiny. “Yeah. Yeah, fuck that shoebox, I wanna live with you.”

Kihyun smiles, chest all warm and happy. “That’s the spirit!” He grins, swings his and Changkyun’s hands back and forward. “Can’t wait to hear all the things you plan to do after this, to be honest.”

“After this, you’ll still be around,” Changkyun smiles down at the sand.

“Obviously, where the fuck would I go?” Kihyun scoffs, bringing both of Changkyun’s arms around him.

Changkyun giggles, laying back and forcing Kihyun to keep him upright. “Without me? Nowhere. You’re stuck with me now. You’re condemned to a Changkyun-filled fate.”

“Oh, well, I guess I shall endure,” Kihyun grins, “For humanity’s sake. And my own.”

There’s a reason why love is invisible, undetectable. And the only way to truly understand it is to feel it, embody it, embrace it. And it’s not like Kihyun didn’t see it coming. He knew he was going to fall hard for Changkyun, hoped and hopes it won’t end in broken hearts. But, honestly, even now, all Changkyun has to do is breathe and Kihyun looks at him like he holds all the secrets behind his eyes.

It’s easy, in the moment, to think it’s something that will never go away. But at this point, as old as Kihyun is, which isn’t much, as tired as he is, which isn’t that much, the more time he spends with Changkyun the more he realizes that it’s not such a far fetched thing, to believe it’s a feeling that will never really go away.

Why? Because it’s simple. It’s loving like the sky loves birds, with open hands and infinite freedom. Like those sunrises and sunsets, like those cool nights Kihyun loves so much.

Right now, Kihyun has all that he needs; a job that he enjoys, a silly best friend he wouldn’t trade for the world, a family of choice that would kill for him if necessary, and someone to shower with love.

“As long as you’re happy,” Kihyun says, smiling a little, “I’m happy.”

Changkyun leans in for a soft kiss that tastes like the ocean. “That’s what love is, right?”

“To me? Yeah. Although,” Kihyun shrugs, “I’m the happiest if I can make you happy, too.”

Changkyun snaps his fingers, smiling wide. “There it is! Love is being and making happy.”

“Woah… We’ve figured it out,” Kihyun gasps. “Oh no, what now…? Do we write a book about it?”

Changkyun giggles. “Nah… Our little secret. Everyone else can go figure it out for themselves.”

Kihyun narrows his eyes and leans closer, “Oh, I like that… It’s sexy when you say it’s our little secret.”

Changkyun raises an eyebrow, amused. “Well… Yes? But everyone’s different. Some people--the straights, I bet--just loooooove all that angsty love shit. But ours is simple. And the _best_ ,” Changkyun grins, giving Kihyun a little squeeze. “We’ll just be disgustingly happy and whipped and make every other couple second guess their life choices and raise their standards, etcetera, etcetera.” 

“Aw, he’s cocky,” Kihyun laughs, “I love it.”

“I take my clothes off for a living, I’m _allowed_.”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow. “Wanna take your clothes off and jump into the cold water?”

“Oooh noooo, that feels like a dare,” Changkyun whines. “I can’t say no to a daaare.”

“And we can freeze to death,” Kihyun says, finally letting go of Changkyun and throwing the flip flops towards dry land. “And I’ll kiss you.”

“Now I’m just being _bribed_ ,” Changkyun laughs and instead of taking off his own shirt, ducks in to tug at Kihyun’s. 

Kihyun lifts his arms and lets Changkyun roll the shirt up. “Is that complaining I hear?”

“Only if you change your mind,” Changkyun sing songs and cackles when he pulls Kihyun’s shorts down to his knees and runs away.

Kihyun looks down and frowns, staring unimpressed at his own legs. _Well._ He takes a deep breath and rolls his eyes, slowly stepping out of his shorts, careful not to let them get wet. He swings them towards dry land and they land more or less near the flip flops.

“Last one to get into the water doesn’t get pancakes,” he announces as he slowly walks towards the waves that aren’t tall enough to be dangerous.

Changkyun yelps and just starts shedding clothes, with far less care as to where they go, almost tripping over his own shorts.

Kihyun shivers, goosebumps all over his arms and back when the first waves wash over his knees. It feels like his joints are going to freeze. “Oh god! This is cold! Get over here and warm me up!”

There’s a splash and when Kihyun looks over, Changkyun is out of sight, before he gasps himself up above the water and laughs, running out just to run back in where Kihyun is, naked except for his underwear. “Cold cold cold cold cold!”

“Alright, no, stay away from me!” Kihyun laughs, turning to run away. His feet feel like icicles. But squared ones.

“You promised smooches!” Changkyun squeaks before throwing himself at Kihyun entirely.

Kihyun yelps. And then again when he trips and takes a wave to the face. Changkyun pulls him up, laughing, and Kihyun just shivers.

“Oh, shit, are you okay?”

Kihyun glares at Changkyun. And honestly, the smart course of action would be to drown the silly thing. But instead Kihyun just lets himself fall back, pulling Changkyun with him until the cold water covers their shoulders, and kisses him.

It’s not the sexiest thing they’ve ever done, mostly because it’s so cold their dicks are the size of peanuts right now. But it’s warm, it’s soft and Changkyun’s lips taste like the sea.

“Later,” Kihyun mumbles, breath shaking a little with the cold, “We’re taking a shower together, a warm one, and then I’m making hot chocolate.”

“With marshmallows?” Changkyun mumbles, holding Kihyun closer.

Kihyun brings his hand up, thumbs lightly at Changkyun’s lower lip and licks. “The tiny ones, yeah. You taste nice… All seasoned with sea salt and shit...”

“And shit,” Changkyun giggles. “ _Nasty_.”

“What,” Kihyun huffs a laugh. “You think fish don’t shit?”

“The ocean is just nature’s bathroom. _God,_ this is so fucking romantic.”

Kihyun throws his head back to laugh and then leans forward to kiss Changkyun, hands grabbing at his thighs to hike him up. “Isn’t it? Who needs stereotypes? And cliches… And all that shit, when I got you, hm? You could be telling me you took the curliest dump and I’d be all _aww_.”

“I literally know when you last took a dump, Kihyun, this is where we’re at in this relationship.”

“I informed you for your own good,” Kihyun scoffs. “Sometimes, it’s some radioactive shit.”

“Remember when I forgot Jooheon was home and yelled from the shower that I was cleaning my ass? Good times.”

Kihyun snorts, turns towards the blue line that makes out the horizon over the sea and sighs before starting to step back slowly towards the beach. “I wonder… Do you think he’ll go live with Minhyuk if they become a thing? ‘Cause… I really don’t want to live with Minhyuk.”

Changkyun throws his head back in a laugh. “We’ll go house hunting. Get our own place, and I can be as loud as I actually _am,_ thank you very much.”

“Which is a lot,” Kihyun jokes, lets go of Changkyun as they approach the beach. “And, like I have said so many times before, I am the luckiest.”

“Starting to think so, yeah,” Changkyun laughs, kissing Kihyun’s neck. “Especially considering what I’ve got planned after that hot chocolate…”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow and glances over. “Ohoh?”

It might be the cold, but Kihyun swears he sees Changkyun blush. “I… want to do a show just for you. I got new lingerie and everything, so…”

_Oh boy._

Kihyun swallows and tries not to think about it. “Last time you… did a show for me, it was merely a preview and I got a huge boner… I’m highkey scared of your shows. No offense, baby...”

“So you _don’t_ want one…?” Changkyun asks, biting his lip as he smiles.

“That is a _very_ complicated question,” Kihyun says, eyes narrowing. _Stupid wet boxers._ He approaches his clothes and picks up his shirt, which he quickly pulls over Changkyun’s head. “Here, you’ll catch a cold… But anyway… The line between wanting and needing is a blur.”

Changkyun giggles, leans over for a kiss to his cheek. “That sounds like a yes to me,” he sing songs and runs off, picking up clothes as he goes.

Kihyun sighs and leans down to pick up the flip flops. 

Is he a dead man? Yep. He is a dead man.

\---

Kihyun can hear Minhyuk in the living room, trying to drag Jooheon to the mini super just a few streets away. Kihyun will be cooking later, considering they’re all sick of pizza and noodles, and Minhyuk suggested going grocery shopping with Jooheon.

_How domestic._

In the five days they’ve been here, Minhyuk has been pasted to Jooheon the whole time. Though, actual displays of affection, other than the occasional kiss to the head? None. But Jooheon looks so flustered all the time, wide eyed and following Minhyuk around like the whipped puppy he is. Kihyun can see it sometimes, though, the soft look in Minhyuk’s eyes when he watches Jooheon blush or stutter or forget all that and be extraordinarily extra with Changkyun. 

All in all, it’s been a nice week. And it’s strange, because Kihyun would have thought, by now, that he’d want something more. Not because he’s one to want things simply because. He’s not greedy. But humans are never really happy with what they have, even if it’s everything there will ever be. As it is, though, Kihyun has all he’s ever wanted and he’s so happy to be basking in it that all he wishes for is more time. Because suddenly, all the years ahead of him won’t be enough to enjoy this life to the fullest.

Who needs happy endings when the journey is the best part?

Even if in five years half the people in his life have moved onto another, one of their own, or even someone else's, it should be fine. It should be fine as long as Kihyun makes the most of what he has now.

He scrolls down his Instagram feed tapping at every picture twice just to leave that supportive ‘like’, and then glances to the side. There’s a box over the nightstand. Kihyun considers for a moment and then glances away, sighs and sinks further down in his sitting position at the head of the bed.

It’s been almost a month since he last opened that little box. Is it telling? Maybe. It’s funny, though, because even without it, it feels like Kihyun is as high as he’ll ever be. High on happy things. So, why did he bring it with him? Well… there’s nothing wrong with wanting to float in a pile of clouds with Changkyun every now and then.

The bathroom door finally clicks open, and it doesn’t, at first glance, _look_ like Changkyun has spent the last half hour in there, dressed in an oversized black hoodie and loose sweatpants, flicking the light off behind him. When he looks over, though, a small grin on his face, Kihyun can see the effort. His skin looks flawless, his eyes dark but catch the light, hair fluffy and lips a dark red.

“I’m scared to ask,” Kihyun says. He knows what this is about. Changkyun had mentioned a ‘show’ of sorts. But, in a way, Kihyun was hoping it would be swept under the rug. Mostly, because he doesn’t know if he can take it.

Changkyun affects him too much.

“Then… don’t,” Changkyun chirps, walks to the end of the bed and beckoning Kihyun closer with a single finger before he points at the bed. When did he paint his nails black again? _God_. “Sit.”

Kihyun blinks and slowly puts his phone down before scooting to the side of the bed. He looks up at Changkyun and… well. _Quite the view._ Not in a ‘step on me’ kind of way but also in a ‘step on me’ kind of way. Especially when Changkyun smiles, leans in to whisper in his ear; “No touching until I tell you to, okay?”

Now, that’s a challenge. 

“Okay,” Kihyun says anyway, even though his hands twitch a little because he wants to do just that; touch. It’s one of the best things he gets to do, afterall.

This is going to drive him insane.

Changkyun takes a small step back, takes his phone out of the sweatpants’ pocket and scrolls for a second, and music plays softly on it as he places it on the nightstand next to him. Kihyun doesn’t recognise the song; which is funny, he’d sort of considered every sexy song to have been exposed to him at this point, considering where he works.

Changkyun smirks, then, the kind of confident that works so well for him, as he pulls the knot loose at the front of his pants, working them slowly down his legs and--

 _Oh_.

The hoodie falls low, but there’s still a strip of skin between where it falls and where the lacy, black stockings sit on Changkyun’s thighs and down his legs.

“Hadn’t… seen those before,” Kihyun mumbles, letting his eyes wander. Because now he can, whereas while at work he tries to keep them away. It’s a selfish little thing, the type of thing that whispers at the back of his head. The type of thing that lets him know he doesn’t want to look at what everyone else is looking at and wants to, instead, look at something that is only his.

“They’re for you,” Changkyun says, stepping out of the pants and closer, hands on Kihyun’s thighs to pull him further off the edge of the bed. 

Kihyun takes a quiet breath but lets it go loudly through his nose. “You say that and expect me _not_ to touch you. You’re evil.”

Changkyun smirks, jerking Kihyun’s legs open before ducking down, face trailing up his thigh. “Patience, baby…”

Kihyun closes his eyes when his shoulders shake a little with a shiver that leaves goosebumps on his arms. He sighs and looks down at Changkyun, focusing more on keeping his hands still by his sides than anything else. 

It’s with a languid, practised (clearly) move, that Changkyun moves his face up to Kihyun’s neck, hips hovering over Kihyun’s lap as he rolls them to the slow, sensual beat of whatever is playing on his phone.

And, again, Kihyun shivers. 

“You smell nice,” he says, because he might as well.

Changkyun chuckles something deep, before Kihyun feels his legs behind snapped closed again. Changkyun sits himself on Kihyun’s lap, hand gripping at the front of his own hoodie that he lifts up over his naked stomach, head thrown back, hips slowly rolling. He moves away, standing up in front of Kihyun without stopping his movements, hoodie up and over his head.

Kihyun doesn’t know if he’s looking or if his eyes are melting at this point.

Changkyun is wearing something Kihyun has _definitely_ not seen before; the smallest pair of black lace panties he’s ever seen,only barely covering Changkyun’s soft dick. He’s entirely smooth shaven, as always, And around his neck, a black, leather collar, with a silver ring. 

When he turns around-- _a g-string? Really?_ \--and bends over, his fingers hook in the lace strings, pulling down slowly over his ass. It’s teasing, and then it just knocks the air right out of Kihyun’s lungs. Because there’s no way he saw that right, there’s no way that when Changkyun pulls the lacy underwear down enough to show himself entirely to Kihyun, that Kihyun saw what he just did.

It’s silver, and shiny, is all he can process from the quick look he gets, but it’s _definitely_ a butt plug.

Kihyun opens his mouth to say something but no words come out. He can feel his eyebrows furrowing, and has to grip a little at the sheets of the bed so he won’t reach out.

“Do you like it?” Changkyun asks, looking over his tattooed shoulder with a small smirk as he straightens up.

Kihyun bites at his lower lip and groans a little, head falling back as he takes a one second pause to look at the ceiling instead. “I’m dying… This is torture...”

Changkyun giggles. Something Kihyun is sure is not part of his usual routine. But he quickly makes up for it when he’s suddenly on Kihyun’s lap, except _not_ , simply teasing Kihyun’s crotch with rolls that just brush over him. 

“You can touch now,” Changkyun says, voice a little breathy.

Kihyun tries to take a deep breath but fails, quickly letting it go the moment his hands move to Changkyun’s waist. He keeps them there, barely gripping, and closes his eyes, feeling the way Changkyun’s hips roll, every light brush against his own crotch.

It’s tantalizing. And Kihyun both loves it and hates it. Because it’s tormenting but also good, with the promise of something else.

He opens his eyes again and leans forward to kiss between Changkyun’s shoulder blades, hands slowly sliding down to his hips. There’s a heavy weight at the pit of Kihyun’s stomach, a weight that is surrounded by fluttering butterflies. And every time Changkyun rolls his ass against him, every time Kihyun sees it, it’s like gravity shifts and pulls between his legs.

Changkyun reaches back, hand trailing down Kihyun’s chest when he slides down between Kihyun’s legs that instinctively open for him. He holds them open, then, when he turns around, eyes dark on Kihyun, leaning over him, knee pressing in between Kihyun’s legs. The lace underwear is clearly straining, too, where Changkyun’s dick has gotten hard, leaked a little into the material.

“You have no idea what you’re doing to me right now,” Kihyun mumbles, lets his hands slide up Changkyun’s sides, one sneaking to the back of his head and pulling him closer but pausing when they’re just a breath away.

Now Kihyun is just teasing himself, to be honest.

“Tell me, then,” Changkyun breathes, moving Kihyun’s hand from the back of his head, down over his throat, until a finger hooks into the ring hanging from his neck, knee pushing up softly against Kihyun.

“It’s whiplash, really,” Kihyun whispers, pulling Changkyun by the ring, lips brushing against his, “Can’t decide if… if I want you to keep going, if I want you to do with me whatever you want or if I should just push you against the bed and make love to you.”

Changkyun shivers, breath hot against Kihyun’s lips, forehead bumping softly against his. “I… Make love to me. _Please_ …”

Kihyun lets himself fall back and pulls Changkyun on top of him, lips pressing against his in a rather desperate kiss. Kihyun can’t really help the sigh, the way his body melts a little and the tension that had been building washes away. 

He feels at Changkyun’s back, leaves goosebumps on the soft skin under his fingers, and then trails down to Changkyun’s ass, squeezing to push their hips together Kihyun hooks one finger around the string of Changkyun’s panties and tugs it up a little, just enough to cause pressure. The fabric is soft, too.

Changkyun whimpers, pushing himself against Kihyun, hands feeling everywhere, fumbling with Kihyun’s pants as he kisses him. He kisses, but nips at Kihyun’s bottom lip, sucks softly at his tongue. Whatever Changkyun had put on his lips, it tastes like cherries. 

It’s a soft, but jarring sensation, once Changkyun pulls Kihyun’s pants and boxers down and rolls his hips, erection straining against the lace he brushes over Kihyun’s dick.

Kihyun hisses a little, presses a finger against the buttplug he feels under his fingertips, and Changkyun gasps, leaning back to look Kihyun in the eye, cheeks pink. 

“What,” Kihyun asks softly.

“It feels good,” Changkyun whispers.

Kihyun lifts his head just enough to kiss at Changkyun’s jaw, finger hooking around the base of the plug, just enough to move it a little bit. “Does it…?” Kihyun asks, tonguing at Changkyun’s skin.

“Y--Yeah,” Changkyun gasps, head tilting up, eyes fluttering closed. “You feel better, though…”

“Do you want to feel me, baby?” Kihyun mumbles, opening his mouth around Changkyun’s throat and biting lightly, teasingly moving the buttplug as if to pull it out but falling short. Changkyun’s hand grips at Kihyun’s arm, breath stuttering.

“Yes,” Changkyun hisses, before he melts on top of Kihyun. “So much…”

Kihyun pulls Changkyun into a kiss and rolls to the side, rolling on top of him to invert their positions. When the kiss breaks, though, Kihyun softly turns Changkyun around again and begins kissing down his spine, taking time to feel the slight curve on Changkyun’s lower back, thumbs pressing in the dip between Changkyun’s asscheeks and his thighs.

Changkyun raises himself up for Kihyun, panties and stockings a stark contrast to how pale Changkyun looks in this light, how smooth and soft and pink where Kihyun touches. He keeps his eyes on Kihyun, though, the new, delicate, floral tattoo on his back glistening with the sweat that gathers in a thin, shiny layer.

Kihyun bites lightly at one of Changkyun’s asscheeks before closing his lips around the bit of skin he caught and sucking, all the while tugging slowly at the buttplug again, pulling it halfway out.

“ _Ah_ ,” Changkyun moans then hisses, hand shooting out to fumble by the bedside table. “Need,” Changkyun babbles. “Hrnnn--The thingy.”

Kihyun pulls the plug out and lets go of Changkyun’s ass with a loud kiss sound, dropping the thing to the side and taking the hem of his shirt to lift it up and take it off. Changkyun sighs, and when Kihyun looks, his hole flutters, pink and stretched.

“Good luck trying to find it,” Kihyun huffs, leans down and presses his tongue against Changkyun’s hole, first flat and then licking into him. It’s dizzying how easy it is. And the sound Changkyun makes is low and lewd and needy. He presses back against Kihyun’s tongue, hand gripping at the sheets.

“Ki…”

Kihyun circles his tongue around once before slowly leaning back and pressing in with just one finger, moving up to kiss at Changkyun’s back and then whisper in his ear. “Do you need help, baby?” he asks, grabbing Changkyun’s hand with his free one when Changkyun nods weakly, guiding it to the bedside table to show him where the lube is. 

Changkyun carefully picks it up and brings it closer, cheek pressed against the bed. He smiles, then, over his shoulder at Kihyun, something dazed and soft. “You’re so good to me…”

Kihyun huffs a laugh and leans over to press a kiss against Changkyun’s cheek. “You deserve it, baby. All of the good things.”

Changkyun giggles and wiggles his hips a little. “Well, _hurry up, then_.”

“Well, well, demanding are we,” Kihyun jokes, playfully kissing Changkyun’s shoulder even as he presses his finger in just a bit more and reaches down with the bottle of lube. “I have a question for you, actually…”

“Great timing,” Changkyun says, smiling as he melts down a little more, eyes fluttering closed.

“It’s just a question, whichever answer is fine, I’m just asking because…” Kihyun leans back and pulls his finger out, dribble lube between his three fingers and some over Changkyun’s hole. “Condom or… no condom…?”

Changkyun pauses, before looking over his shoulder, expression shy. “I--I’m clean, so… If you want...”

“I know you are, Sunmi wouldn’t employ you if you weren’t, hence the question…”

Changkyun flushes up to his ears, hand grabbing a little at the sheets as he shakes his head. “No condom…”

Kihyun takes a deep breath. _Oh boy._ “Okay…” he says, pushing in with two fingers that go in easily thanks to the amount of lube and the buttplug now lost between the sheets. Changkyun sighs, pressing back against Kihyun’s fingers, tensing for just a moment. 

“I love you,” Changkyun babbles softly against the sheets, chest rising and falling with steady but shuddery breaths. 

Kihyun pushes in with a third finger, kisses at Changkyun’s lower back. “And I love you, baby. So much...”

“I know,” Changkyun says in the softest voice Kihyun’s heard from him. 

“And yet I’ll never get tired of telling you just how much,” Kihyun mumbles, moving his fingers into Changkyun and breathing softly against him when his own dick twitches at the lack of attention.

It’s slow because it doesn’t need to be fast; passionate, because that’s just what comes with loving someone else this much. Changkyun’s hips stutter and roll, moaning softly, a sound meant just for Kihyun. (And yet, the stockings stay put; Changkyun must have paid for quality.) 

Soon enough, Changkyun whimpers a pleading, raspy, “Please…” and Kihyun pulls his fingers away, moves his hand to his dick and sighs when he strokes himself a little, forehead pressing against Changkyun’s back.

He finishes the bottle of lube because he might as well, and they might as well get another tomorrow, and then shifts closer, licks at the thin layer of sweat on Changkyun’s back and kisses at the back of his neck, the tip of his dick pressing a little against him.

There’s barely any effort on Kihyun’s behalf, really. He pushes in just a little and feels himself be swallowed whole. And it’s… a strange feeling, warmer than usual, more raw, more real, and very, very overwhelming.

“Fuck,” Changkyun gasps, a hand shooting up and behind him, fingers scratching at Kihyun’s scalp, grabbing at his hair. “It’s you, it’s you…”

“Yeah,” Kihyun breathes out, presses his face against the back of Changkyun’s neck and rolls his hips just a little, slowly. “Yeah, baby, it’s me. You feel so fucking good…”

“You’re the best,” Changkyun moans, breathy, rolling his hips back against Kihyun, turning his face to catch Kihyun’s lips in a kiss. 

Kihyun’s breath falters a little, he feels the string of Changkyun’s panties rub against him every time he pulls out just a little, feels the way Changkyun twitches inside whenever he pushes back in, and the weight in his stomach gets even heavier.

“Gonna--” Kihyun huffs, “Gonna do something real quick and then I’m turning you around. Gotta look at your face.”

Changkyun nods with a dazed smile, foreheads brushing against each other. “Okay…”

Kihyun takes a breath, leans back and pulls Changkyun up a little and to him by the hips before fucking into him a little faster.

“O--Oh--” Changkyun moans but chokes on it, falling forward and raising his ass. “ _Yes_ …”

Kihyun keeps going, Changkyun’s noises and the sound of skin slapping against skin filling the air around them, mixing with Changkyun’s scent, with the scent of sex. Kihyun keeps going until he almost comes and needs to stop, quickly pulling out and turning Changkyun around to lean over him and kiss him.

Changkyun pants against his lips, arms over his shoulders and Kihyun can feel Changkyun’s dick leaking a little over their stomachs, pressed together, legs up and around Kihyun. 

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” Kihyun mumbles, “I’m tempted to sue you.”

“Oh my god,” Changkyun laughs against Kihyun’s lips, ebbing into a giggle as he kisses all over Kihyun’s face. “You’re so silly, I love you so much.”

“And you’re mine,” Kihyun says, kissing Changkyun’s forehead and pressing against him again. “And I love you, too...”

Changkyun shifts underneath him, glancing and reaching down to line Kihyun up with him again before looking into Kihyun’s eyes again. “All yours...”

“Yeah?” Kihyun nuzzles in. “Hey, try not to come just yet, alright? Because you’re still going to sit on my lap.”

Changkyun smiles wide. It doesn’t fit the situation, somehow, and yet, it fits _them_. 

\---

They chase the feeling without catching it. Kihyun moves himself inside Changkyun, eyes locked, and it’s the closest Changkyun has ever been or felt with anyone else. The closest he’s ever wanted to be, or ever would want to. Changkyun’s chest tightens with the utter intimacy of it, with seeing the way Kihyun’s eyebrows twitch, his breaths hitch. 

It’s unspoken, too, when Kihyun stops moving and Changkyun knows it’s his turn. Because Kihyun looks a little wrecked, eyes glossy, sweat beading his hairline, down to his collarbones. Kihyun pulls out and sits back, and Changkyun smiles when he sits down on Kihyun’s lap, back to him, Kihyun’s dick between his asscheeks, careful not to move. Yet.

“Like this?” Changkyun teases, leaning back against Kihyun’s chest, pressing a kiss to his jaw.

“Yeah,” Kihyun breathes, one hand moving up Chankyun’s chest and pinching at a nipple, “Like this.” Kihyun’s other hand moves down and slide into Changkyun’s panties, palm pressing against Changkyun’s dick. 

Changkyun sighs, body tingling with sensation because--shit, this is the first time since this entire session that either of them have touched the damn thing. It’s such a relief Changkyun feels himself twitch in Kihyun’s hand. He rolls his hips slowly on Kihyun, feels his dick slide between his asscheeks. For just a little longer, before Changkyun lifts himself up, reaches down and Kihyun presses into him so easily it makes Changkyun moan loud, unabashed.

Kihyun holds Changkyun close, kisses the curve of his neck, licks up to his jaw and presses his lips against his ear to breathe against him. All Changkyun needs to do is move his hips and he feels Kihyun moving inside him at the same time he moves in Kihyun’s hand.

And again, it’s slow, the heat between them even warmer, sweat making them slip a little against each other sometimes. That is until Kihyun whispers into Changkyun’s ear;

“A little faster, baby,” he says, the hand on Changkyun’s chest moving to join the other around Changkyun’s dick, one at the base and one at the head.

Changkyun throws all remaining pretense out the window as he starts moving faster and faster, bouncing himself on Kihyun’s dick, letting every sound escape his lips as his head falls back. “Fuck, yes! Ki! _Fuck!_ ” Everything had been slow, heated, building, and now it’s just… a rush. An intense, incredible rush, like fast isn’t fast enough, like hard just isn’t hard enough, but he keeps chasing and chasing the feeling that builds and builds and _builds_ . Changkyun fucks himself on Kihyun and it feels--“So fucking good, Ki, oh _god_ \--”

Kihyun groans against Changkyun’s ear, both hands squeezing hard at Changkyun’s dick. “Baby, I’m… I’m close…”

“Me too,” Changkyun babbles. “Me too me too-- _ah!”_ Changkyun feels his legs start to shake but he doesn’t stop, hand flying back again to grip into Kihyun’s hair. And then Changkyun moans something closer to a scream, entire body shaking with how hard he comes into Kihyun’s hand.

Kihyun lets go just to hold Changkyun close to him, and Changkyun hears the moan that builds in Kihyun’s throat, feels the way Kihyun spills inside him. And even though Changkyun’s orgams keeps bouncing up and down even as it recedes, the thought of Kihyun coming inside him like this sends it all skyrocketing again. Changkyun shivers, feels himself want to just give in, entire body tingling with the aftershocks, with pleasure, with just…

Love.

Maybe that’s why it’s called making love.

Changkyun doesn’t move, just breathes, lets Kihyun hold him tight, head falling down onto Kihyun’s shoulder. He feels dizzy. His head is swimming and his ears are ringing and his chest is so full he has no idea what to do with any of it, but he knows what it is, and it makes him smile.

“I think,” Kihyun mumbles once he catches his breath, “That my dick is going to fall off.”

Changkyun giggles. “Honestly? Well done… That was _impressive_...”

“Gotta take advantage of it while I’m young,” Kihyun jokes. “Might not be able to edge this much in a few years, unfortunately for you.”

“Tsk, a damn shame,” Changkyun jokes and giggles again, kissing Kihyun’s cheek. “You should get out of me but… Meeeeessyyyyy.”

“I really should though, I don’t wanna be the one telling Minhyuk I’m stuck inside my boyfriend.”

Changkyun scoffs and spots the buttplug-- _convenient_ \--nearby, reaching over as he slips himself off of Kihyun just as he presses the plug back in. “There, I’m a genius.”

Kihyun blinks. And blinks again. And then just falls back and _laughs a lot_. “Oh--Oh my god, y--you’re a bottle!”

Changkyun laughs, even as he swats at Kihyun’s arm. “Shut the _fuck_ up!”

“You just--” Kihyun wheezes, “You just put a cap on--”

“It makes sense! Now I won’t leak your cum everywhere-- _stop laughing--!”_

Kihyun doesn’t stop (but then again, neither does Changkyun), but sits up to squish Changkyun’s cheeks (one of Kihyun’s hands is still dirty, which… gross, but nevermind that) and kiss him.

“I fucking love you,” Kihyun mumbles against Changkyun’s lips and Changkyun pouts, eyes watering. Stupid post sex emotions... 

“You too, silly. Now don’t--” Changkyun swats at him again. “Make me cry. I’m a _glass_ bottle, I’m _delicate_.”

Kihyun pouts playfully and pokes Changkyun’s lips with the pout. “You’re the love of my life, silly, silly delicate glass bottle of mine.”

“Yep,” Changkyun says, nods and just embraces the fact that his eyes are betraying him like this. “Here we go, here come the tears.”

Kihyun just wraps his arms around Changkyun and pulls him down onto the bed with a soft, low giggle. “And I’ll kiss every single one of them, oh, here--look!” _Kiss._ “One down. Oh no! This one is running away!”

Changkyun laughs, throat tight as he clings. “There are too many, you’ll never catch ‘em all!” Changkyun smiles down at Kihyun, brushing the hair out of his forehead that he softly kisses. “Thanks for asking me on that date… Thanks for not caring what my job is… Thank you for loving me like this…”

Kihyun smiles softly and nuzzles in. “Thank you for being you. Because loving you is easy and free. And I wouldn’t have it any other way, really. Thank you for giving me a chance to show you just how much…”

“We have all the time in the world.”

“Hm,” Kihyun kisses Changkyun’s lips. “Shower and then bed until those two come back with the groceries?” 

“God, _yes_.”

\---

Changkyun ‘empties the bottle’ and they’re still laughing about it later as they tangle themselves up in the sheets and just… talk. For ages, they just talk. Even after all this time, there’s still things Kihyun didn’t know about him, and Changkyun didn’t know of Kihyun in turn. And every new little piece of information makes Changkyun smile.

They talk about hypothetical scenarios, too. Things that will never happen. Things that might happen if they work hard enough. They discuss the world, knowing that they see eye to eye on what matters. But in the end, Changkyun's favourite subject is them, together, or Kihyun himself.

After a while, they don’t even talk anymore, they don’t really have to. They just lie there and Kihyun plays with Changkyun's hair and Changkyun smiles to himself as he looks at nothing at all.

Jooheon and Minhyuk are back, that much is obvious, but it doesn’t really bother them until later, when Minhyuk knocks and knocks and knocks until one of them gives him the go ahead. He must have gotten that handy tip from Jooheon.

“Hey,” Minhyuk says, peeking in. “Joo’s family is here, don’t be fucking rude.”

Changkyun’s heart pulls a little and he sits up when Kihyun does, eyes a little wide. “What do you mean?” Kihyun asks.

Minhyuk waves a hand. “Don’t worry, they’re just passing through. Apparently they were close by and Joo’s niece hasn’t seen him in a while? Guys! She’s so cute!”

“Oh god, I know,” Kihyun says, quickly rolling away and standing up. He reaches for his t-shirt and pulls it over his head. “That girl is the second love of my life and she doesn't even know it.”

Changkyun scoffs a small laugh, suddenly nervous as he looks for his own shirt. It’s the one thing he’s not talked to Kihyun about, yet. Family. And he really isn’t entirely sure why.

“She asked for Uncle Kihyun,” Minhyuk says, scoffs. “I’d run if I were you.”

“I'm--” Kihyun stumbles as he puts on his shorts. “Coming! I'm coming.” And he's out of the room before anyone else can say a thing. Minhyuk looks after him, amused, before gesturing for Changkyun to follow as he leaves.

Changkyun hears laughter before he sees much else. There’s a man and a woman, who look a little older than Kihyun, and a small girl trying to pick up a bag (a purse?) she clearly can’t. But she looks determined about it. Jooheon looks happy to the verge of tears, and the man is talking to Minhyuk about something Changkyun can’t make out. And Kihyun looks… enamoured. It’s heart-wrenchingly cute. But, then again, so is the little girl, her hair adorned with pink pins and pulled up in two pigtails.

“Olivia, let Kihyun help you,” the woman laughs, Jooheon wrapping an arm over her shoulder. They look the same. Sister? Probably, if this is his niece.

Kihyun crouches down and helps the little girl with the bag before wrapping his arms around her and letting her snuggle closer. He pouts when she does. And then kisses her cheek. Changkyun’s heart _pulls_ , but there’s no time for that, when Jooheon motions over and smiles wide.

“Oh, this is Changkyun! I told you about him, right? Yeah,” Jooheon says, looking towards his sister and back to Changkyun. “Kyun, this is Esther, my sister.”

Changkyun bows his head and walks closer, smiling shyly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Kihyun’s boyfriend, right?” Esther smiles wide. “Aish, I’m glad. He needs more than Olivia’s occasional kisses.”

Changkyun flushes but smiles, heart tight. “I try.”

“She gives the best kisses,” Kihyun coos, squishing his cheek against Olivia's, who giggles and grabs a handful of Kihyun’s hair, babbling something Changkyun can’t decipher.

“Ah, Joo,” the man says, digging into his own pockets. “Your mom told me to give you this--if I can find it, what the hell…”

“Oh, and she said to give you this--” Esther smacks Jooheon’s arm. “For forgetting to call Grandma for her birthday last week.”

Kihyun huffs a laugh and glances at Jooheon before getting a smooch from the little girl, who's also trying to eat his hair. He doesn't seem to mind, though.

“Ow,” Jooheon pouts, rubbing at his arm. “I only remembered at like, 2 am, she’d have killed me if I called anyway.”

“I’ll remind him next time,” Minhyuk says, winking over at Esther as her husband keeps rifling into his pockets with a grumble.

Kihyun looks at Changkyun, then, and walks closer, turning Olivia to him so she fits between them. “Say 'hello' to Changkyun, Oli.”

“Ku-kyung?” Olivia asks, looking at Changkyun with wide, curious eyes. Changkyun smiles, awkward. He’s never been the best with kids...

Kihyun pouts. “Yes… God, that's adorable...

“Hello!” Olivia says, almost falls over as she waddles over, Changkyun instinctively bending down to reach out so she won’t. Instead, she just falls into his arms with a giggle, Changkyun looking over at Kihyun with wide eyes. “Ehehe, Ku-kyung shoft.”

Kihyun's expression is something between soft, in love, but also total amusement.

“I am?” Changkyun asks, patting awkwardly at the girl’s hair. “That’s good…” He mouths a little ‘help’ at Kihyun, smiling and huffing a small laugh at the situation.

“Oli”, Kihyun calls, “Show Ku-kyung your squishy cheeks.” 

“Eheh, ohkey,” Olivia says, leaning back and pushing her small, chubby hands against her cheeks that she puffs out and… fuck that’s cute. _That’s so fucking cute!_ Changkyun melts where he’s crouched down, pouting at the girl.

“Adorable, right?” Kihyun asks.

“The cutest,” Changkyun coos, cupping his hands over the girl’s and smooching loudly at her forehead. The girl giggles, and his heart melts even more. If he’s not careful (because he knows himself well enough, at this point) he’s going to start crying.

Changkyun barely notices the circular talks. When Kihyun crouches next to him and they coo at the little girl together, it's like they're in a world of their own.

“Not to be me,” Kihyun says softly, “But I've just fallen even more in love with you.”

Changkyun flushes, Olivia sat in his lap as she plays with the end of her dress like it’s the most interesting thing in the world. “I’m… Not even good with kids, Ki, what the he--” _Child in the vicinity._ “Heck.”

Kihyun laughs. “You seem perfect, though. Honestly? I think you'd be a great father someday.”

Changkyun’s heart skips over a beat and he looks away, at Olivia, playing with one of the small ponytails. “Is that… something you want, though? Kids, a family, all that…”

“I already have a family,” Kihyun says, smiling fondly at Olivia. “One I picked for myself. But… I wouldn't be opposed to it, no. I really like kids. It's never a bad idea to expand the family, I think.”

Changkyun swallows, opens his mouth before he even thinks of what to say, but doesn’t get the chance.

“Come on, Oli,” Esther says and the girl perks up. Esther looks at Kihyun and Changkyun a little sadly. “We gotta get back on the road, I’m afraid.”

“That's alright,” Kihyun says, leaning in to give Olivia's forehead a loud kiss. “Be a good girl, yes?”

“Nuh,” Olivia says, hopping off of Changkyun’s lap, Changkyun laughing as he pecks little kisses all over her face before she giggles and runs away into her mother’s arms.

“It was lovely to see you again,” she says to Kihyun, before smiling at Changkyun. “And to meet you. Sorry we didn’t really chat.”

“It’s okay,” Changkyun smiles, chest still tight. Esther smiles again before she turns, Jooheon and Minhyuk walking them out the front door, Minhyuk laughing with Esther about something. Changkyun watches them leave, and breathes out slowly, swallows as he pushes himself up to stand. “I… think I need a minute,” Changkyun mumbles, biting at his lip as he turns to walk back to the bedroom before he starts crying.

“Baby, are you okay?” Kihyun asks. He sounds concerned.

Changkyun looks up. That was a mistake. The tears fall before he can even think to stop them, falling forward to cling to Kihyun in a hug.

Kihyun's arms are around him before he has to think of any explanation. And then he feels himself being steered into the bedrooms hall.

“Hey,” Kihyun breathes out, leans back against a wall and holds Changkyun close. “What's wrong? Was it… Was it something I said…?”

Changkyun quickly shakes his head, sniffing as he leans back, rubbing at his eyes with a small laugh. “No, it’s fine, it’s just… ugh, it’s stupid, I don’t even know _why_ I’m crying about this…”

“If you're crying about it then it's not stupid,” Kihyun mumbles, reaching up to clean a few tears from Changkyun's cheeks.

Changkyun pouts, eyes on Kihyun’s face. “There’s something I haven’t told you. I don’t even know why…” Changkyun sniffs, bottom lip wobbling.

Kihyun narrows his eyes, thumb pressing against Changkyun's lips. “You're… not secretly married, are you?”

Changkyun almost chokes on the small laugh, shaking his head. “Naaaaah… Blegh,” Changkyun sticks out his tongue. “Nah, definitely not,” he laughs again, nuzzles against Kihyun’s hand and breathes. “Remember when… I made that joke about my mother wishing I was on the bisexual side of life?”

Kihyun frowns and tilts his head back until it bumps against the wall as he glances up. “Hm, vaguely…? But yeah…” 

“I… lied. In a way, I guess, it…” Changkyun fidgets, sniffs, and Kihyun looks at him. “It wasn’t my mother. It was the lady who worked at the orphanage…”

Kihyun pauses and his eyes widen a little. He doesn't say anything, doesn't try to, just keeps looking at Changkyun's face like he expects him to go on.

“She was… mean,” Changkyun says, voice small. “Said that… what I was... would make sure nobody would want to adopt me, and I guess she was right, because no one ever did…”

Kihyun frowns and his eyes shine a little even in the dim light. He presses his thumb against Changkyun's cheek and then, slowly, leans in to kiss his forehead.

It's a soft little thing, just a light press. But it weighs with meaning, in a way.

“You… never had a family,” Kihyun says without questioning and Changkyun shakes his head. 

“No… Never, I--” Changkyun sniffs, frowns. “Don’t even know who my parents are. But I know they didn’t want me, they just let me there…”

“I'm so sorry, baby,” Kihyun whispers, kissing Changkyun's cheek. “I'm sorry if… I said something insensitive.”

Changkyun shakes his head again, more insistently this time. “No no no, you just… You keep saying we’re a family and I just--” Changkyun chokes on a small cry. 

“We are, baby, Kihyun says, pushes Changkyun away just enough to cup his face and look at him. “We are. All of us, and you and me. No matter what. We're a family.”

Changkyun knows what he must look like, but he sniffs and nods and cries a little more. “I know… Thank you…” Changkyun smiles small, reaching out to pull Kihyun into a tight hug. 

“Ever heard the sentence, _the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb?_ ”

Changkyun smiles, face pressed into Kihyun’s shoulder. “Covenant sounds much cooler than ‘boyfriend’, gotta admit…”

Kihyun barks a laugh and squeezes Changkyun. “You, in college, being a fake snob and calling your boyfriend 'covenant'.”

“Because you’re _thicc_ ,” Changkyun jokes and scoffs a laugh.

“I fucking love you,” Kihyun chuckles.

Changkyun laughs against him. “Say it again…”

“I fucking love you, Changkyun.”

Changkyun holds on tight, even though he knows he’ll never have to for Kihyun to stay.

“I fucking love you, too.”

\---

Family.

It starts with Sunmi, or 'The Stripper Mom' like Changkyun likes to call her. And it ends with this wide eyed girl that is currently staring at Kihyun from the other side of the counter.

He doesn't know her name, but he will soon.

“Welcome to MyStar,” Kihyun says, placing a drink in front of her. 

The true mysteries of the night are the ones serving the drinks. Not the people scouting for clients or this new girl, who will be joining the family, soon. But it's always good to jump over the ice.

“I'm Kihyun, by the way. Let me know if you need something else.”

“Okay,” the girl says. “I'm Siyeon. Lee Siyeon.”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow and scoffs a little to himself. _Another pretty faced baby for us to watch over…_ Which… she does look like someone Kihyun knows…

_Whatever._

He turns around and throws the cloth over his shoulder. Jooheon is on the other side of the bar, pulling an impressive misdirective shake that baffles half the people looking at him.

It's a calm night. Not that many people around. So, Kihyun goes into the kitchen and takes his time preparing a tall cup of coffee and a French toast.

To serve? No. To give to his fucking beautiful, hard working boyfriend that is currently sitting in a corner on Kihyun's side of the bar, like a potato inside a hoodie bag, eyes on a laptop.

“Here you go,” Kihyun says as he places down the plate and the cup in front of Changkyun's nose. “Break time.”

Changkyun blinks up at him. He always does that, just for a second, when Kihyun pulls him out of whatever had grabbed his attention so efficiently. “Wha--oh!” He sees the coffee and smiles wide, cheeks dimpling. “Thank you!”

Kihyun leans down just enough to kiss Changkyun's lips. “You're welcome.”

Changkyun’s cheeks go a little pink. Even after so long, he still blushes every now and then when Kihyun kisses him. “I was actually just reading this thing--technically related to what I’m doing, but like--There was this small team of scientists? And they were like, ‘hey, what happens when an object massive enough to influence the flow of time is placed in a quantum state? Like, if two spaceships fired at each other in a vacuum but one is closer to a planet so _obviously_ the gravity would make time go slower there so it would get hit by the other first and--” Changkyun blinks at Kihyun. “Science babble. Sorry.”

Kihyun blinks back. “Keep talking and you'll give me a boner.”

Changkyun giggles, pulling the coffee closer. “Aish… It’s cool, though, they’re like… working on technology to actually time travel a little. Not in the big flashy way, but still. Time travel! I love it!”

Kihyun smiles fondly and glances at the door when a few people walk in. “Would you go back or forward in time, if you could?”

“Hmm…” Changkyun hums, narrowing his eyes playfully at Kihyun before he shakes his head. “Neither.”

Kihyun looks at him and pouts. “It's gay, isn't it… whatever just went through your head…”

“Ehehehe,” Changkyun borderline cackles, swaying a little from side to side. “Maaaaaaybe.” Changkyun sips. “Time is finicky, I wouldn’t go back because a small change might mean never meeting you. And going forward means I might see a time without you, so, no, I’ll stay riiiiiight here, thanks.”

“That is the most ridiculous, most lovable thing anyone has ever said to me. I'm…” Kihyun touches his chest. “Touched.”

Changkyun shrugs, nonchalant even as his eyes shine with playful mischief. “What can I say, this coffee is really fucking good.”

Kihyun huffs a laugh and rolls his eyes. “Yep. I'm just being used for coffee benefits.”

“I have a whole drawer of benefits at home if you want to start comparing,” Changkyun jokes, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

“You're silly,” Kihyun chuckles, leaning in for another kiss before he turns towards the counter and smiles at the people approaching the bar.

It's a calm night. And in a few hours they will be going home. _Home_ where Kihyun, Jooheon and Changkyun live (with the occasional Minhyuk) together with two cats. _Home_ where Changkyun has started to collect plants and is currently turning the balcony into a jungle. _Home_ where Kihyun and Jooheon built a table from IKEA on their own for Changkyun's birthday, so he could study. _Home_ where oftentimes Kihyun and Changkyun make love.

Home is not a place, but a feeling. And to Kihyun, and maybe Changkyun, too, family is also a feeling. Home and family exist where the heart is.

So, for the millionth time tonight, Kihyun smiles and says, “Welcome to MyStar.” And then counts the minutes until he can go home and be with his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done and done. Thank you so much for reading!!! We love, love, love the vibe of this fic and we couldn't wait to share with you guys. Originally, Into You was only going to have 3 chapters, but we ended up writing a 4th one to clear up some things and reveal some stuff we had only planned as a background story that wouldn't be shared. As it is, we hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> Thank you!! And see you soon!!!
> 
> Now playing: [My Name (Feat. Talksick)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWvz3qYjJGU) by Jimmy Clash , DJ H.ONE.


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